Maryam Mirzakhani passed away today at 40-years-old. The Stanford University math professor was the first woman to ever win the prestigious Fields Medal, and we’ve got the latest report on the sad news.
Cause of Death
Mirzakhani was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, and after fiercely batting this horrible disease for four years, she died on July 15, 2017. She is survived by her husband Jan Vondrák and their daughter Anahita.
Career
Mirzakhani was born in Tehran, Iran on May 3, 1977, and she quickly displayed an amazing talent for math. She won two gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad, bringing home the top honors in 1994 and 1995.
In 1999, Mirzakhani earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. She would then head to the United States for her graduate studies, completing her PhD at Harvard University in 2004.
Mirzakhani’s biggest acclomplishment came in 2014, as she became the first woman to ever win the Fields Medal for her work on complex geometry and dynamical systems. The award is only given out every four years to between two and four mathematicians under 40.
Rest in peace, Maryam.
