What is Jacques Tits?
{{Infobox scientist | name = Jacques Tits | image = Jacques Tits (2008).jpg | caption = Jacques Tits in May 2008 | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|08|12|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Uccle]], Belgium | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2021|12|5|1930|8|12}} | death_place = [[France]] | citizenship = Belgian (1930–1974)<br>French (since 1974) | fields = [[Mathematics]] | workplaces = [[Free University of Brussels]]<br>[[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]]<br>[[University of Bonn]]<br>[[Collège de France]]<br>[[French Academy of Sciences]] | doctoral_advisor = [[Paul Libois]] | doctoral_students = [[Francis Buekenhout]]<br>[[Jens Carsten Jantzen]]<br>[[Karl-Otto Stöhr]] | awards = [[Cantor medal]] <small>(1996)</small><br>[[Abel Prize]] <small>(2008, with [[John G. Thompson]]</small>) | known_for = The [[Tits group]], the [[Tits alternative]], [[Tits building]]s | footnotes = <!--For any footnotes needed to clarify entries above--> }} '''Jacques Tits''' ({{IPA-fr|tits|lang}}; 12 August 1930 &ndash; 5 December 2021) was a [[Belgian|Belgium-born]] [[French people|French]] [[mathematician]]. He worked on [[group theory]] and [[incidence geometry]]. He introduced [[Tits building]]s, the [[Tits alternative]], and the [[Tits group]]. In 1988 he was elected a member of the [[Academia Europaea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Tits_Jacques |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328104806/https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Tits_Jacques |title=Jacques Tits |publisher=Academia Europaea |archive-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> In 2008 he was awarded the [[Abel Prize]], along with [[John Griggs Thompson]], “for their profound achievements in algebra and in particular for shaping modern group theory.”<ref name=abel>{{cite web |url=http://www.abelprisen.no/en/nyheter/nyhet.html?id=163 |title=Thompson and Tits share the Abel Prize for 2008 |publisher=[[The Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund]] |date=2008-05-17