Yu Deng and Hong Wang are among four mathematicians awarded the prestigious 2026 Fields Medals in Philadelphia.
Yu Deng and Hong Wang have been awarded the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, for solving problems that have challenged scholars for over a century. The International Mathematical Union announced the winners during the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia. Yu Deng, a professor at the University of Chicago, was recognized for his work on partial differential equations and his derivation of the Boltzmann equation from hard-sphere dynamics. Hong Wang, a professor at New York University and the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, received the award for her work in harmonic analysis, specifically for solving the three-dimensional Kakeya problem. They joined American mathematician John Pardon and Canadian mathematician Jacob Tsimerman as the four recipients of the 2026 prizes. Each winner received 15,000 Canadian dollars and a gold medal. The awards recognize outstanding achievements in existing work and the promise of future success for mathematicians under the age of 40.