31/07/2018

A minute of silence is observed in honor of Maryam Mirzakhani.

The only woman to receive the Fields Medal since its creation in 1936, Iranian Maryam Mirzakhani was honored at the opening of the World Meeting of Women in Mathematics (WM)² with a minute of silence. The researcher died at the age of 40 in July 2017 in the United States, where she worked at Stanford University.

Due to her outstanding performance in mathematics, Mirzakhani has become a role model for many women, not only in Iran, but throughout the world.

Mathematics has always been present in the Iranian woman's life. At 17, she received the gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Hong Kong. She was the first woman in her country to be awarded the prize. In 1999, she graduated in Tehran and went to the USA, where she eventually earned her doctorate from Harvard.

As highlighted by the event coordinator, IMPA mathematician Carolina Araujo, Mirzakhani's dedication to so many research areas is impressive. The result of this multifaceted work came in 2014, with the awarding of the Fields Medal for finding ways to calculate the surfaces of curved objects.

During the tribute, Ashraf Daneshkhah, representative of the Women's Committee of the Iranian Mathematical Society, spoke about the importance of the researcher and how much she motivated other women. She suggested that May 3rd – Maryam Mirzakhani's birthday – be considered Women in Mathematics Day.