SEOUL, South Korea: The 37-year-old Iranian-born mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani has become the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal, mathematics’ equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
The professor at Stanford University in California is among four Fields Medal recipients at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Seoul, and the first female among the 56 winners since the prize was established in 1936.
“This is a great honor,” Mirzakhani said, according to Stanford University’s website.
“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 the coming years.”
