Professor Heo Jun-i, First Korean Mathematician to Receive the Fields Medal

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Korean-American mathematician Junyi Heo (39), a professor at Princeton University in the United States and an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), was awarded the Fields Medal, known as the 'Nobel Prize of Mathematics,' on the 5th (local time).

The International Mathematical Union (IMU) announced Professor Heo as the Fields Medal recipient at the award ceremony held at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, on the same day.

Although Professor Heo holds American citizenship, he is the first Korean mathematician to receive this award. Until now, no Korean or Korean-descended individual had ever won this prize.

Established in 1936, the Fields Medal is awarded every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40 who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in mathematics and are expected to make further academic contributions. It is regarded as the highest honor in the field of mathematics and is often called the 'Nobel Prize of Mathematics.' This year was Professor Heo's last eligible year to receive the Fields Medal.

At the ceremony, three other recipients shared the award alongside Professor Heo. The awardees receive a gold medal and a cash prize of 15,000 Canadian dollars (approximately 15 million Korean won).

Professor Heo was born in California, USA, and returned to Korea at the age of two with his father, Myunghoe Heo, an emeritus professor in the Department of Statistics at Korea University, and his mother, Inyoung Lee, an emeritus professor in the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Seoul National University. He completed his education in Korea from elementary school through undergraduate and master's degrees.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Seoul National University in 2007, earned a master's degree from the same university's Department of Mathematical Sciences in 2009, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in the United States in 2014.

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