Erkki Somersalo

Erkki Somersalo is an internationally recognized applied mathematician, whose research interests include inverse problems with an emphasis on Bayesian computational methods with physics-based modeling and uncertainty quantification. The applications that inspire Somersalo’s research range from engineering and biomedical applications to basic questions in life sciences.

He has coauthored six monographs and text books, and over 150 articles. The monographs Statistical and Computational Inverse Problems (Springer 2004, with Jari Kaipio) and Bayesian Scientific Computing (Springer 2023, with Daniela Calvetti) are pivotal landmarks in changing the paradigm in computational inverse problems and uncertainty quantification towards probabilistic Bayesian methods based scientific computing. The Guggenheim Fellowship supports Somersalo’s continuing work towards reconciling theoretical and computational methods within the Bayesian probabilistic framework. Erkki Somersalo earned his PhD at The University of Helsinki, Finland, and has been since 2008 Professor of Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio. He is an elected fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK since 2004, and an elected member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters since 2007. In 2022, he was granted the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Honoris Causa by the University of Eastern Finland.