Professor Benedict Gross
George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Mathematics, Harvard University. (Professor Gross was also the Dean of Harvard College from 2003 to 2007.) Webpage: http://www.math.harvard.edu/~gross/

Abstract: The problem of finding rational solutions to cubic equations is central
to number theory. I will first discuss some of the history of the subject, which goes
back to the work of Fermat. I will then present the conjecture of Birch
and Swinnerton-Dyer, which has motivated research on elliptic curves for the
past 50 years. I will end with a discussion of Bhargava's recent work on the
average number of solutions.