Robert L. Bryant, an internationally known researcher in mathematics and a professor at Duke University, has been named director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkeley after a yearlong search, the institute's trustees announced.

The director's term is five years, and Bryant will be the fifth to hold the office since the institute was founded 25 years ago. He succeeds David Eisenbud, professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley, and Bryant will also become a full professor in the Berkeley math department, the institute's trustees said.

The Duke mathematician is a specialist in the geometry of differential equations, and his research focuses on their application to Riemannian geometry as well as mathematical physics. He is a fellow of the national Academy of Sciences and is also currently director of the Chamber Arts Society in Durham, N.C. where Duke is located.