Four mathematicians whose research covers areas like
prime numbers and the packing of eight dimensional spheres
are the latest recipients of the Fields Medals, which are given
out once every four years to some of the most accomplished
mathematicians under the age of 40. At a ceremony in
Helsinki on Tuesday, the International Mathematical Union,
which administers the awards, bestowed the medals, made of
14-karat gold, to Hugo Duminil-Copin, 36, of the Institut des
Hautes Études Scientifiques and the University of Geneva in
Switzerland; June Huh, 39, of Princeton University; James
Maynard, 35, of the University of Oxford in England; and
Maryna Viazovska, 37, of the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Lausanne.
Dr. Viazovska was the second woman to ever receive a
Fields Medal.
Also impressively, While Dr. Huh defies the stereotype of
a math prodigy, having not been drawn into the field until he
was already 23 and in his last year of college. The recipients
learned months ago that they had been chosen but were told
not to share the news with friends and colleagues. They were
not even told who else had been chosen. “I honestly don’t
know,” Dr. Huh said last week. “It just may be guesses.” As a
teenager Dr. Huh wanted to be a poet. During high school, he
was working towards that creative pursuit. But all the writings
he ever wrote have never been published.
prime numbers and the packing of eight dimensional spheres
are the latest recipients of the Fields Medals, which are given
out once every four years to some of the most accomplished
mathematicians under the age of 40. At a ceremony in
Helsinki on Tuesday, the International Mathematical Union,
which administers the awards, bestowed the medals, made of
14-karat gold, to Hugo Duminil-Copin, 36, of the Institut des
Hautes Études Scientifiques and the University of Geneva in
Switzerland; June Huh, 39, of Princeton University; James
Maynard, 35, of the University of Oxford in England; and
Maryna Viazovska, 37, of the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Lausanne.
Dr. Viazovska was the second woman to ever receive a
Fields Medal.
Also impressively, While Dr. Huh defies the stereotype of
a math prodigy, having not been drawn into the field until he
was already 23 and in his last year of college. The recipients
learned months ago that they had been chosen but were told
not to share the news with friends and colleagues. They were
not even told who else had been chosen. “I honestly don’t
know,” Dr. Huh said last week. “It just may be guesses.” As a
teenager Dr. Huh wanted to be a poet. During high school, he
was working towards that creative pursuit. But all the writings
he ever wrote have never been published.
