Professor Allan Sly has been named a 2018 MacArthur Fellow by the MacArthur Foundation. The foundation cites Professor Sly's work "applying probability theory to resolve long-standing problems in statistical physics and computer science".
The MacArthur Fellows program began in 1981 and is intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations. In keeping with this purpose, the Foundation awards fellowships directly to individuals rather than through institutions. Recipients may be writers, scientists, artists, social scientists, humanists, teachers, entrepreneurs, or those in other fields, with or without institutional affiliations. They may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.