Who are they? The journeys of China's Fields Medalists

Chinese mathematicians Deng Yu and Wang Hong were awarded the Fields Medals at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians on Thursday, marking the first time Chinese mathematicians have won the prestigious honor. It is also the first time that two mathematicians with a background in mathematics education in China have received the top prize in mathematics in the same year. Wang also became only the third woman to win the medal since it was established in 1936.

Born in 1991 in Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Wang is currently a professor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in France and the Courant Institute at New York University. Her research focuses on harmonic analysis and geometric measure theory.

Wang's path to mathematics was not straightforward. When she entered Peking University at 16, she was initially assigned to its School of Earth and Space Sciences because the mathematics department of Peking University in her province had only one admission slot and her score fell short. After learning that she could transfer to mathematics by passing an exam, she seized the opportunity.

"I always wanted to study mathematics when I was a child," said Wang. That early passion eventually led her to devote herself to solving some of the field's most difficult problems.

When research hits a dead end, Wang said she turns to exercise to clear her mind and start afresh. She also emphasizes the importance of collaboration, saying that working with others can bring different perspectives and mutual encouragement when a problem seems stuck.

"Mathematical research has no borders," Wang said. "I really hope that researchers and scholars around the world can exchange their ideas without any restrictions."

Outside mathematics, Wang has a longstanding love of drawing. She often sketches while thinking through a problem, saying that the drawings help her visualize its structure. For her, the connection between drawing and mathematics is an "implicit commonality."

Born in 1989 in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Deng is a professor at the University of Chicago. His research spans partial differential equations, fluid mechanics, harmonic analysis and statistical physics.

His interest in science began with something as simple as a math problem in a school textbook. Deng recalled spending an entire afternoon working it out. The problem may seem easy to him now, but the excitement he felt after finding the solution became one of his earliest memories of the joy of solving problems.

Deng showed an exceptional talent for both mathematics and Go, a traditional board game he has enjoyed since childhood. As a middle school student, he competed in China's national Go qualification tournament and missed the chance to become a professional player by just one game. He later kept the game as a way to relax when he was tired or stuck on a problem.

Deng taught himself the full mathematics curriculum for middle and high school during his three years of middle school. In ninth grade, he took a mathematics test at the level of China's national college entrance examination and consistently scored at least 130 out of 150.

In 2006, Deng represented China at the 47th International Mathematical Olympiad and won a gold medal. He was admitted to Peking University's School of Mathematical Sciences and then transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 2015.

Deng is also interested in poetry. Asked what he might have done if he had not become a mathematician, he said he might have written science fiction. To Deng, the two pursuits share something fundamental. "You set up a fictional premise and then carry out extremely rigorous logical deductions and develop the story."

Since the Fields Medal was established in 1936, two mathematicians from the same country have won the award in the same year on only five occasions, across four countries – the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Russia. With Wang and Deng winning together, China has become the fifth country to achieve the feat.

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Chinese mathematicians awarded the Fields Medal for the first time