A professor at Stanford University became the first woman to win the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, Wednesday.
Maryam Mirzakhani received the Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, at the International Congress of Mathematics in Seoul, South Korea. Since the first Medal was awarded in 1936, all 52 of the past recipients have been men.
Mirzakhani's research focused mainly on geometry and dynamical systems, and contributed greatly to the understanding of the symmetry of curved surfaces. This has implications for physics and quantum field theory, the Associated Press stated.
"This is a great honour," 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."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani congratulated her via Twitter. "Congrats to Maryam Mirzakhani on becoming the first ever woman to win the Fields Medal, making us Iranians very proud," Rouhani tweeted.
Mirzakhani, 37, was born and raised in Tehran. She got her bachelor's degree from Sharif University of Technology in 1999 and completed her doctorate at Harvard University. During her teenage years, Mirzakhani won gold medals at international math contests, reported the Associated Press.
She worked as an assistant professor at Princeton University before becoming a professor at Stanford in 2008.
The other three recipients of the medal are 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.
