This is the second of three lectures by Laurent Lafforgue at the University of Notre Dame. Lafforgue is professeur permanent at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, in Bures-sur-Yvette, France. He is a Member of the French Academy of Sciences and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.  

In 2002, he was awarded a Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing for his work related to the Langlands Program in number theory. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Clay Research Prize and the Grand Prix Jacques Herbrand de l'Académie des Sciences. 

Lafforgue will receive an honorary doctorate at the University of Notre Dame commencement on May 22.