June Huh Awarded the Fields Medal, Achieving a Long-held Dream of South Korean Mathematicians

Recognized by the World: Dr. June Huh, a professor at Princeton University and a distinguished professor of mathematics at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study, raises the medal after receiving the Fields Medal at the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Award Ceremony held at the Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland on July 5 (local time). Helsinki / AP-Yonhap News

Dr. June Huh (39), a professor at Princeton University and a distinguished professor of mathematics at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), was awarded the Fields Medal, referred to as the “Nobel Prize of mathematics,” on July 5 (local time)--a first for a Korean mathematician.

This day, Dr. Huh was selected as the recipient of the Fields Medal at an award ceremony held by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland.

The Fields Medal is one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics, which the IMU presents every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40 who have made great achievements in the field.

Dr. Huh received the medal for his contribution in solving several longstanding problems in combinatorics using algebraic geometry. According to the IMU citation, June Huh opened a new horizon in the study of mathematics by solving longstanding problems, such as Read’s conjecture, in a unique way.

Dr. Huh is a Korean American, but he was educated in South Korea. After receiving a master’s degree in South Korea, he attended a doctoral program in the U.S. and received his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2014. He is currently a member of the faculty at Princeton University and is a distinguished professor at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study.

Dr. Huh came under the spotlight when he proved Read’s conjecture, which had remained unproven for nearly fifty years, when he was studying for his doctorate in the U.S. in 2012. Read’s conjecture was a combinatorics problem presented by the British mathematician, Ronald Read in 1968. Huh also proved the Rota conjecture, another tough problem presented by the U.S. mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota in 1971, sweeping prestigious awards in science, such as the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in 2017 and the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize in 2019. In recognition of his research achievements, last year, Huh was awarded the Ho-Am Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for academic achievements in South Korea.

There were three other Fields Medal awardees this day including Maryna Viazovska from Ukraine.