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Daniel Biss

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Preceded by
  
Jeffrey Schoenberg

Children
  
Two Sons

Spouse
  
Karin Steinbrueck

Preceded by
  
Elizabeth Coulson

Residence
  
Evanston, Illinois

Siblings
  
Jonathan Biss


Succeeded by
  
Laura Fine

Name
  
Daniel Biss

Parents
  
Miriam Fried, Paul Biss

Political party
  
Democratic

Role
  
Mathematician

Grandparents
  
Raya Garbousova

Daniel Biss media1fdncmscomchicagoimagerjohnedwardsand

Born
  
August 27, 1977 (age 46) (
1977-08-27
)

Education
  
Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Similar People
  
Laura Fine, Robyn Gabel, Elaine Nekritz, Jonathan Biss, Miriam Fried

Daniel biss the miracle of swindon town 102


Daniel Kálmán Biss (born 1977 in Akron, Ohio) is an American mathematician and member of the Illinois Senate from the 9th district, serving since January 2013. The district includes Chicago's northern suburbs, including Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Golf, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette, and Winnetka. Biss previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013.

Contents

He is a candidate in the Democratic Party primary for Governor of Illinois in the 2018 election.

Illinois sen daniel biss and rep elaine nekritz pension press conference 4 14 2015


Personal life, education and mathematical career

Biss was born into a family of musicians: his brother is the noted pianist Jonathan Biss, his parents are the violinists Paul Biss and Miriam Fried, and his grandmother was the Russian-born cellist Raya Garbousova.

Biss received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude in 1998, and his Ph.D. at MIT in 2002, both in mathematics. He won the 1999 Morgan Prize for his outstanding research as an undergraduate, and was a Clay Research Fellow from 2002 to 2007. His doctoral advisor was Michael J. Hopkins. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in the fall of 2003.

Biss created and wrote the mathematics behind the plot in An Abundance of Katherines, a novel by Vlogbrothers co-creator and author John Green. He is periodically consulted on matters of a mathematical nature by Green on his web series.

Prior to running for State Representative, Biss was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago. He published several papers about Grassmannian manifolds in prestigious journals, including the Annals of Mathematics, that later were discovered to contain a flaw which rendered the proofs invalid. In 2008, Biss published retractions in the journals.

In the Annals of Mathematics he argued that there is "no difference between studying real vector bundles and matroid bundles." Nikolai Mnëv, a mathematician at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics at St. Petersburg in Russia, found that the proof written by Biss in his article was "seriously flawed". When Mnëv found the flaw, Biss did not immediately retract it; it took nearly four years. In his one-page retraction in July 2009 in the Annals of Mathematics, Biss wrote, "The author would like to thank Nikolai Mnëv for drawing his attention to this error."

Committee assignments

  • Appropriations – Elementary & Secondary Education
  • Personnel & Pensions
  • Consumer Protection
  • Small Business Empowerment & Workforce Development
  • International Trade & Commerce
  • Bio-Technology
  • Appropriations – Higher Education
  • Political views

    According to a 2008 Political Courage Test, Daniel Biss supports carbon emissions limits. Biss is pro-choice, supporting legal abortion. He supports allowing high school graduates to pay in-state tuition at public universities regardless of immigration status, as well as state funding to raise the salaries of teachers. He received a 0% rating by the NRA in 2010. Biss has expressed support of labor unions and has received $20,000 from AFSCME, the second largest donation to a state legislator. Biss also supports legalizing marijuana in Illinois.

    In 2013, Biss cosponsored SB 1, a bill that significantly reduced pension plans for retired state employees in an attempt to reduce debts in the state retirement system. In May 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional. In rejecting the consitutionality of SB-1, the Illinois Supreme Court stated:“These modifications to pension benefits unquestionably diminish the value of the retirement annuities the members…were promised when they joined the pension system. Accordingly, based on the plain language of the Act, these annuity-reducing provisions contravene the pension protection clause’s absolute prohibition against diminishment of pension benefits and exceed the General Assembly’s authority,” the ruling states.

    In March 2017, Biss sponsored SB1424, a bill proposing a system of matching state funds for small-donor political contributions and SB 780, a bill proposing to elect a number of statewide offices by ranked-choice ballot. He also co-sponsored SB 1933, a bill by State Sen. Andy Manar to allow for automatic voter registration when applying for an Illinois drivers’ license.

    Biss supports universal health care and advocates specifically for a state-level single-payer healthcare system. In June 2017, Biss voted to reinforce the Affordable Care Act in Illinois by preventing insurance companies from discriminating against customers with pre-existing conditions.

    Campaigns

    On November 10, 2011, Biss announced his intent to run for the Illinois Senate seat held by retiring Senator Jeffrey Schoenberg. He won the election on November 6, 2012, receiving over 66% of the vote.

    Biss announced a run for Illinois Comptroller in the 2016 special election but dropped out and endorsed opponent Susana Mendoza.

    On March 20, 2017, Biss announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois for the 2018 election on a Facebook Live video, attacking incumbent governor Bruce Rauner and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. Biss joined a growing field of Democratic contenders, including businessman Chris Kennedy and Chicago alderman Ameya Pawar.

    References

    Daniel Biss Wikipedia