Mlkhail Klibanov

Mlkhail Klibanov is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has served since 1990. His research sits at the intersection of pure mathematics and applied science, focusing on inverse problems for PDEs, ill-posed problems, and interdisciplinary applications in microwaves and nano-science.

Dr. Klibanov's work revolutionized the field through his introduction of Carleman estimates (1981), enabling global uniqueness and stability theorems for multidimensional inverse problems. He later developed globally convergent numerical methods—including the convexification method—which solve inverse problems without prior knowledge of solution neighborhoods, unlike conventional approaches. His 2014-2016 work on phaseless inverse scattering resolved a 40-year-old open problem from Chadan and Sabatier's quantum scattering theory textbook, with applications to live cell imaging and nanotechnology.

His publications demonstrate remarkable disciplinary reach, spanning mathematical finance (Black-Scholes equation), control theory (1991 stability analysis), and computational methods verified on experimental data. With over 8,800 Google Scholar citations and $3.3 million in federal grants, he ranks among the most highly funded mathematicians in the US.

Scientific Recognition:

• Laudation in Journal of Inverse and Ill-Posed Problems (2022) celebrating his 70th birthday
• Malta Conference Medal (May 2022) for distinguished contributions
• Klein College of Science Excellence in Research Award (May 2025) for ongoing impact

He serves on editorial boards of Communications in Analysis and Computations, Numerical Methods and Programming, and Journal of Applied and Industrial Mathematics.