Sontag Elected Member of National Academy of Sciences
Eduardo Sontag, university distinguished professor of ECE/BioE, was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a mark of excellence in science and one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Alena Kuzub. Main photo: Eduardo Sontag’s concept of input-to-state stability for nonlinear systems has become foundational in control theory. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Mathematician Eduardo Sontag joins the National Academy of Sciences with multi-field contributions
Eduardo Sontag has earned a place among the world’s top scientists by solving applied mathematical problems in a pure theorist’s manner.
A Northeastern University distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering, and affiliate professor of mathematics and chemical engineering, Sontag was recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
“I like to think of big ideas in basic concepts,” says Sontag, who was recognized for his distinguished and continuing contributions to original research in applied mathematics. “I like to think very rigorously about things in an abstract way, but very carefully, logically.”
But he also has a profound curiosity about many different fields, especially biology and neuroscience.
“You can transfer ideas from one field to another,” he says. “I attend lectures in all kinds of fields, and I often see analogies between engineering and biology.”
Sontag has written more than 500 research papers, book chapters, and monographs. His concept of input-to-state stability for nonlinear systems—those where outputs aren’t directly proportional to inputs—has become foundational in control theory. His work has been cited nearly 65,000 times and referenced in hundreds of patents.
“Eduardo Sontag’s work has profoundly shaped modern control theory, bridging rigorous mathematics with systems biology, neural networks, and nonlinear dynamics—illuminating paths where engineering meets the complexity of life,” says Mario Sznaier, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern.
Sontag grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was drawn to science and mathematics early on, he says, both for the intellectual pursuit and their power to understand and solve problems in health, engineering, and society.
“Mathematics provides a common language to talk about many things, even in very different fields,” he says.
Read full story at Northeastern Global News