John Forbes Nash Jr. was one of the most influential mathematicians in the 20th century. He is best known for his pioneering achievements in game theory and his Nobel Prize-winning economic theories. John Nash was born on June 13, 1928 in Bluefield, West Virginia. His father, John Forbes Nash Sr., was an electrical engineer and his mother, Margaret Nash, was a schoolteacher. Nash showed an aptitude for math at an early age, and he enrolled in Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1948.
During his undergraduate years, Nash developed an interest in game theory, which he studied in depth and which ultimately became the basis of his doctoral work. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Nash took time off to serve in the US Air Force during the Korean War. He returned to Carnegie Mellon in 1953 and received his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1956.
From there, Nash took a position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and built a reputation as one of the leading minds in game theory and mathematics. He solved a major problem in game theory known as the Nash equilibrium, which says that when two players have opposing interests, a stable outcome can be achieved (later winning him the Nobel Prize). It’s this work that is most closely associated with Nash.
As Nash worked on more theories, however, he began to experience symptoms of mental illness. He began to believe he could decipher secret codes in newspapers, magazines, and other writings. This paranoid schizophrenia eventually led to his hospitalization in 1959 and his divorce from his wife in 1963.
In the 1970s, however, Nash’s illness began to show signs of remission. He slowly started to become functional again, and eventually won the Nobel Prize in 1994 “for his pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games”. He was able to travel to Stockholm and give an acceptance speech.
Nash then returned to Princeton where he re-married his wife and became a professor emeritus. He published several books and articles, lectured around the world, and received many honors.
In 2015, he and his wife Alicia were the basis for the movie A Beautiful Mind, which won four Academy Awards.
John Forbes Nash Jr. died on May 23, 2015 at the age of 86. He is remembered for his groundbreaking theories in economics, game theory, and mathematics, as well as his inspiring story of recovery from mental illness.
