Hong Wang, Silver Professor of Mathematics at New York University, has received the Fields Medal from the International Mathematical Union. Considered the highest honor in the field of mathematics, the award recognizes Dr. Wang for her 2025 resolution of the Kakeya conjecture, a central problem in harmonic analysis and geometry that had been unsolved since it was first posed in 1917. Fields Medals are awarded every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40. Dr. Wang is only the third woman to have the won the prize.
“Moments like this never belong to just one person. They are the culmination of years of chance encounters and unexpected questions that steer you in the right direction,” said Dr. Wang. “I have been so lucky to work alongside brilliant colleagues at every stage of my career, and this honor is theirs as much as it is mine. I am so grateful to the IMU for this award and so excited for what is to come.”
Dr. Wang joined the NYU faculty in 2023 after teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles. Earlier this year, she was granted the title of Silver Professor, which is NYU’s most prestigious named professorship. Dr. Wang also currently holds a faculty appointment with the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France.
Dr. Wang earned her bachelor’s degree from Peking University in China and her master’s degrees from Université Paris Sud and Ecole Polytechnique in France. She holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.