ED Advances of basic studies

Huh becomes 1st person of Korean descent to win Fields Medal

June Huh, a Korean-American mathematician who teaches at Princeton University, has been named a recipient of this year's Fields Medal, becoming the first scholar of Korean descent to win the highest honor in mathematics.

Huh, who also serves as a distinguished professor at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), received the prestigious prize along with three others at the award ceremony held in Helsinki Tuesday. Established in 1936, the Fields Medal is given to scholars under 40 for their major contributions in the field of mathematics every four years. It is often referred to as math's equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

The International Mathematical Union (IMU) recognized Huh for his profound insight connecting combinatorics and geometry. In particular, Huh, 39, has solved several major problems in combinatorics. One of Huh's career-defining achievements is bringing the idea of Hodge theory to combinatorics, among others.

What's especially meaningful is that much of his life was spent here and academic growth achieved here. Huh was born in California while his parents were in graduate school and moved to South Korea at the age of two. He majored in physics as an undergraduate at Seoul National University (SNU) and studied math at the university's graduate school under Japanese Fields medalist and visiting professor Heisuke Hironaka, before ultimately obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2014. While it is true that winning the Fields Medal is owed mainly to his individual ability, the mathematical community can be proud of nurturing such an outstanding scholar.

Huh's Fields Medal also indicates overall advances in Korea's academics and research. In this respect, SNU and the KIAS deserve some credit for bringing him into contact with faculty and providing resources that enabled him to grow academically.

In retrospect, the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Seoul in 2014 must have served as an occasion to highlight math as an important field of study. In February, the IMU promoted South Korea's status in the organization to its uppermost Group Five level. Certainly, it's time for the nation to do more to help young people shine in diverse fields of study.