For Pioneering Russian Mathematician, Another Award Does Not Compute

Back in March, when the Clay Mathematics Institute announced that its first $1-million Millennium Prize had been awarded to Grigori Perelman, a brilliant but reclusive Russian mathematician, the institute’s president said he was not sure if Mr. Perelman would accept the honor. The Russian, renowned for having proved the century-old Poincaré conjecture, had already declined to accept a Fields Medal, the top prize in the field. The institute’s president, James Carlson, said only that Mr. Perelman would let him know “in due time.” Well, Mr. Carlson now has his answer. According to today’s Washington Post and New York Times, it is nyet. The institute said the prize money would be used “to benefit mathematics.”