Rate My Professor Burt Totaro

Totaro's research focuses on the profound interplay between algebraic geometry and algebraic topology, particularly through the lens of the Hodge conjecture, algebraic cycles, group cohomology, and applications to Lie theory and representation theory. His groundbreaking work has encouraged algebraic geometers to employ advanced topological tools, resolving key problems and making tangible progress on major conjectures. Prominent publications include his book "Group Cohomology and Algebraic Cycles" (Cambridge University Press, 2014); "Hypersurfaces that are not stably rational" (Journal of the American Mathematical Society, 2016); "Chow groups, Chow cohomology, and linear varieties" (Forum of Mathematics, Sigma, 2014); "Torsion algebraic cycles and complex cobordism" (Journal of the American Mathematical Society, 1997); "Configuration spaces of algebraic varieties" (Topology, 1996); and "The resolution property for schemes and stacks" (Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik, 2004). Totaro's achievements have been honored with the Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society (2000), the Prix Franco-Britannique (2001), election as a Fellow of the Royal Society (2009), and designation as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2019).