01/08/2018

Masaki Kashiwara wins Chern Medal 2018

Japanese mathematician Masaki Kashiwara was recently announced as the winner of the 2018 Chern Medal during the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), which runs until the 9th at Riocentro. Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University, Kashiwara is a specialist in algebraic analysis, a field to which he has made significant contributions in 50 years of research.

Throughout his long career, he solved complex problems such as the Kazhdan-Lusztig conjecture and the theory of crystalline bases of quantum groups. Kashiwara has been recognized for his discoveries. He won the Iyanaga Prize (Japan Mathematical Society, 1981), the Asahi Prize (1988), the Japanese Academy Prize (1988), and the Kyoto Prize for Mathematics (2018).

The Chern Medal recognizes research work that has contributed to extraordinary mathematical achievements. In addition to the 24-karat gold medal, the winner receives $500,000, of which $250,000 is allocated to funding an organization designated by the laureate to support research, education, and outreach programs in the field of mathematics.

The committee that selected Kashiwara included Caroline Series from England, who chaired the group, Jordan Ellenberg from the United States, Gerhard Huisken from Germany, Michio Jimbo from Japan, and Benoit Perthame from France.