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Home / News / Terence Tao, "Mozart of Math," Wins Prestigious Fields Medal |
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Terence Tao, "Mozart of Math," Wins Prestigious Fields Medal
Terence Tao became the first mathematics professor in UCLA history to be awarded the prestigious Fields Medal, often described as the "Nobel Prize in mathematics," during the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid on August 22. If that achievement weren't significant enough, a month later he was named a MacArthur Fellow, receiving an award of $500,000 to use as he sees fit.
"Terry is like Mozart—mathematics just flows out of him, except without Mozart's personality problems; everyone likes him," says John Garnett, professor and former chair of mathematics at UCLA. "Mathematicians with Terry's talent appear only once in a generation. He's an incredible talent, and probably the best mathematician in the world right now. Terry can unravel an enormously complicated mathematical problem and reduce it to something very simple."
Tao claims to owe at least part of his success to UCLA's unique environment that encourages collaboration among disciplines. "One great advantage about UCLA," he says, "is that you get to talk to people from so many different areas. You don't feel as though you're working on your own private thing that no one cares about. You share ideas, and your subject becomes larger than itself."
To read more about Terence Tao and his recent achievements, click here. |
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