Maryam Mirzakhany – The First And The Only Woman Who Ever Won The Noble Prize Of Mathematics
On May 12th, 1977, in the capital city of Iran, a woman was born who later on turned into a legacy. Her name was Maryam Mirzakhany. Maryam Mirzakhany was not only the first Iranian but also the first and the only woman who ever won the Fields Medal, which is also known as the Noble Prize of Mathematics. Mirzakhani conducted her primary and secondary education in her hometown, Tehran; during which she won three gold medals in Mathematics International Olympiads. As for her tertiary education, she attended the Sharif University of Technology and received her degree in Mathematics. After receiving her acceptance from Harvard, she then migrated to the United States in order to obtain her Ph. D. During her education and career as a mathematician, she mainly focused on geometry and dynamical systems, which were also the areas that Mirzakhani won her prestigious Fields award in. According to The Atlantic, "her work was highly theoretical, and Stanford’s statement claimed that it could read like “a foreign language” to those outside the field — “moduli spaces, Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry, Ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry. ”
In addition, it's highly emphasized that her work as a scientist could alter the perspectives about the formation of the universe and the quantum field theory, which highlighted the significance of her work. Personally speaking, Mirzakhani’s significance to me is not only due to her symbolic work and academic excellence but also lies within her iconic life. Mirzakhani not only battled with prejudice, ignorance, and bias she also battled with life itself! This mathematical legend was among the survivals of the Nowruz incident of 1997. A few days prior to Persian new year, Nowruz, the bus carrying the math olympiad champions crashed because of the damaged tire of the bus in which six students were killed. This tragic incident not only stopped Maryam but drove her to the excellence. She does not only represent a math symbol but she is a role model for every woman in mathematics and scientific fields.
For centuries, fields in sciences were driven and dominated by men. As the first woman winning the Fields Medal, Mirzakhani conveys the anti-discriminatory and motivational message to all the young female mathematicians in the world, aspiring and fueling their dreams. Despite her fame and genius intellectual, Maryam remained "very modest, and hesitant to take credit" which is a noticeable but rare characteristic in the world of fame. This legendary scientist passed away at the age of 40, while bravely battling breast cancer and left the world of science grieving in her loss. Her legacy and the knowledge she gave birth to, carve her memory in our hearts and minds for eternity.
