For The First Time Ever, A Woman Has Won The Prestigious Abel Prize For Math

Just like the prestigious Nobel prize for physics, literature, peace and so on, there’s no particular category dedicated to honouring Mathematics. Modelled after the Nobels, Abel Prize for Math is considered to be the highest honour in Mathematics, equivalent to a Nobel prize.

On March 19, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters announced Karen Uhlenbeck as the winner of 2019 Abel Prize. She has thus become the first ever woman to receive the prestigious honour. She is a mathematician and professor emerita at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Abel prize is awarded every year by the king of Norway to the mathematicians who made a remarkable contribution. It also includes a cash award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (about Rs. 4.8 crores).

“Karen Uhlenbeck receives the Abel Prize 2019 for her fundamental work in geometric analysis and gauge theory, which has dramatically changed the mathematical landscape,” said Hans Munthe-Kaas, Chair of the Abel Committee. “Her theories have revolutionised our understanding of minimal surfaces, such as those formed by soap bubbles, and more general minimisation problems in higher dimensions.”

The name, Abel Prize comes from a renowned Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. A Norwegian mathematician, Sophus Lie learned that Alfred Nobel’s annual prizes would not include mathematics category. Hence, they modelled the Abel prize after Nobels in 1899.

Her achievements will inspire the next generation of women mathematicians to not only excel in their chosen fields but leave a trail for posterity to follow. Congratulations to Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck!

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