Professor emeritus of mathematics Paul Cohen, winner of the world’s top math prize and the United States’ most prestigious scientific medal, died on Mar. 23 of a rare lung disease. He was 72.

Cohen, who was famous for his work on set theory, won the 1966 Fields Medal for his work in logic. The award is considered by many as the Nobel Prize of mathematics. The professor was also a recipient of the 1964 American Mathematical Society’s Bocher Prize for his work in analysis.

Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1961, Cohen — who was the son of impoverished Jewish immigrants from Poland — taught math at MIT and Princeton.

President Lyndon Johnson presented Cohen with the 1967 National Medal of Science during a Feb. 1968 ceremony at the White House. Johnson credited Cohen with “epoch-making results in mathematical logic which have enlivened and broadened investigations in the foundation of mathematics.”

The President called Cohen “one of the most brilliant of mathematical logicians,” adding that “his work has greatly influenced the foundation and development of mathematics.”

The mathematician, who retired in 2004 but continued teaching until his death, was a member of the American Mathematical Society, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

According to a Mar. 28 press release from the University, Cohen was an avid musician who played violin and piano in addition to singing in a Stanford chorus; he also spoke six languages.

Cohen is survived by his wife Christina; three sons Eric, Steven and Charles; sister Tobel Cosiol and brother Ruby Cassel.

The family asks that donations be sent to the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) at http://www.openspacetrust.org.