Richard Gordon Swan (/swɑːn/; born 1933) is an American mathematician who is known for the Serre–Swan theorem relating the geometric notion of vector bundles to the algebraic concept of projective modules,[1] and for the Swan representation, an l-adic projective representation of a Galois group.
As an undergraduate at Princeton University, Swan was one of five winners in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in 1952.
[5][6] He is the Louis Block Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Chicago.
[7] His doctoral students at Chicago include Charles Weibel, also known for his work in K-theory.
In 1970 Swan was awarded the American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize in Algebra.