Iranian—born Maryam Mirzakhani, a professor at Stanford University, received the Fields Medal on Wednesday, becoming the first woman ever to win the top prize in mathematics.
She received the Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, at the International Congress of Mathematics in Seoul, South Korea, along with three other mathematicians honoured with the prize this year.
The other recipients were Artur Avila of the National Centre for Scientific Research in France and the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics in Brazil, Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University in the United States, and Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick in Britain.
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Dr. Mirzakhani’s research focusing on geometry and dynamical systems has contributed to the understanding of symmetry of curved surfaces, which has implications for physics and quantum field theory.
“This is a great honour,” Dr. Mirzakhani said. “I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians. ... I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years.” Dr. Mirzakhani, who was born and raised in Tehran, received a bachelor’s degree from Sharif University of Technology in 1999 and completed her doctorate at Harvard University.
After working as an assistant professor at Princeton University, she became a professor at Stanford in 2008.
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani posted a message on Twitter congratulating her.
“Congrats to Maryam Mirzakhani on becoming the first ever woman to win the Fields Medal, making us Iranians very proud,” Mr. Rouhani tweeted.