found the papers difficult to read, and in an attempt to better understand the results, he invented the notion of a "simple root" in a root system. He represented the pairwise angles between these simple roots in the form of a Dynkin diagram. In this way he obtained a cleaner exposition of the classification of complex semisimple Lie algebras. Of Dynkin's 1947 paper "Structure of semisimple Lie algebras", Bertram Kostant wrote: Dynkin's 1952 influential paper "Semisimple subalgebras of semisimple Lie algebras", contained large tables and lists, and studied the subalgebras of the exceptional Lie algebras. Probability theory Dynkin is considered one of the founders of the modern theory of Markov processes. The results obtained by Dynkin and other participants of his seminar at Moscow University were summarized in two books. The first of these, "Theory of Markov Processes", was published in 1959, and laid the foundations of the theory. Dynkin's one-hour talk at the 1962 International Congress of Mathematicians in Stockholm, was delivered by Kolmogorov, since prior to his emigration, Dynkin was never permitted to travel to the West. This talk was titled "Markov processes and problems in analysis". Prizes and awards Prize of the Moscow Mathematical Society, 1951 Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Fellow, 1962 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow, 1978 National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Member, 1985 American Mathematical Society, Leroy P. Steele Prize for Total Mathematical Work, 1993 Moscow Mathematical Society, Honorary Member, 1995 Doctor Honoris Causa of the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6), 1997 Doctor of Science (honoris causa) of the University of Warwick, 2003. Doctor Honoris Causa of the Independent Moscow University (Russia), 2003 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, 2012 Publications See also Algebra Affine Dynkin diagram Coxeter–Dynkin diagram Dynkin index Dynkin–Specht–Wever Lemma Probability Dynkin's formula Dynkin system Notes External links Department listing at Cornell University Personal web page Genealogy Tree of Dynkin's School Collection of interviews assembled by Dynkin 1924 births 2014 deaths Jewish American atheists Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century Russian mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Soviet mathematicians Cornell University faculty Russian atheists Russian Jews Mathematicians from Saint Petersburg Algebraists Probability theorists Soviet emigrants to the United States Moscow State University alumni People from Saint Petersburg Measure theorists