Maryam Mirzakhani

Date of Birth: May 12, 1977

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Date of Death: July 14, 2017

Biography

Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Born in Tehran, Iran, she showed an early aptitude for mathematics and science. She attended the National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (NODET) in Tehran for her high school education, where she quickly gained a reputation as a mathematical prodigy. Mirzakhani went on to win gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1994 and 1995, achieving a perfect score in the latter year. Maryam earned her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran in 1999. She then moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University, where she completed her Ph.D. in 2004 under the supervision of Curtis T. McMullen, a Fields Medalist himself. Mirzakhani’s research focused on hyperbolic geometry, Teichmüller theory, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry. In 2014, she became the first woman and the first Iranian to be awarded the Fields Medal, often dubbed the “Nobel Prize of Mathematics,” for her outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces. Maryam Mirzakhani’s work has had a profound impact on the field of mathematics, and she is remembered not only for her groundbreaking research but also for her role as a trailblazer for women in STEM fields.

5 Interesting Facts about Maryam Mirzakhani

1. Maryam Mirzakhani was the first woman to win the Fields Medal, awarded in 2014.

2. She achieved a perfect score in the 1995 International Mathematical Olympiad.

3. Maryam was a professor of mathematics at Stanford University.

4. Her research primarily focused on hyperbolic geometry and Teichmüller theory.

5. She has a crater on the moon named after her, honoring her contributions to mathematics.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Maryam Mirzakhani

1. “The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.”

2. “I don’t have any particular recipe [for developing new proofs]… It is like being lost in a jungle and trying to use all the knowledge that you can gather to come up with some new tricks.”

3. “You have to spend some energy and effort to see the beauty of math.”

4. “I find discussing mathematics with colleagues of different backgrounds to be very enriching.”

5. “I got involved in math competitions when I was in high school, but I never thought of myself as a genius or an exceptional student.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

While her net worth was never publicly disclosed, as a prominent professor at Stanford and a Fields Medalist, her academic contributions and accolades were invaluable.