George David Birkhoff (21 March 1884, Overisel, Michigan - 12 November 1944, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American mathematician, best known for what is now called the ergodic theorem. Birkhoff was one of the most important leaders in American mathematics in his generation, and during his prime he was considered by many to be the preeminent American mathematician.

Birkhoff obtained his A.B. and A.M. from Harvard. He completed his Ph.D. in 1907, on differential equations, at the University of Chicago. While Eliakim Hastings Moore was his supervisor, he was most influenced by the writings of Henri Poincaré. After teaching at the University of Wisconsin and Princeton University, he taught at Harvard University from 1912 until his death.

Awards and honors

In 1923, he was awarded the inaugural Bôcher Memorial Prize by the American Mathematical Society for his paper Birkhoff (1917) containing, among other things, what is now called the Birkhoff curve shortening flow.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Académie des Sciences in Paris, the Pontifical Academy, and the London and Edinburg Mathematical Societies.

Service
Vice-president of the American Mathematical Society, 1919.
President of the American Mathematical Society, 1925-1926.
Editor of Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 1920-1924.