Retiree first woman to win top math prize
FORT WORTH, Texas — A retired University of Texas professor has become the first woman to receive the world’s top prize in mathematics, granted for her pioneering work in geometric analysis, which studies curved shapes and surfaces.
Karen Uhlenbeck, who taught mathematics at UT from 1987 to 2014, has been awarded the 2019 Abel Prize, which recognizes achievements in mathematics and is considered the most prestigious international award in the field.
Uhlenbeck was recognized for her work in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems, which have provided insights into modern physics, including the nature of reality and spacetime, and has been called some of the most important work in 20th century mathematics, the university said.
The award, which comes with a $700,000 prize, will be presented to Uhlenbeck in May by Norway’s King Harald V in Oslo.
“I can hardly believe it, and I am deeply appreciative,” Uhlenbeck said in a statement Tuesday. “Many thanks to the Norwegian Academy and the institutions and people who have contributed to what has been so far a full and interesting life. I hope that my selection for this award demonstrates that a great variety of individuals are capable of contributing to mathematics at the highest level.”
Uhlenbeck is most known for her work in the 1980s on the “calculus of variations,” which helps explain how geometric objects like soap films and soap bubbles achieve shapes that minimize energy. The work has been used by researchers to model the behavior of electrical fields and other phenomena. She also made important contributions to “gauge theory” that help physicists create models of electromagnetism and gravity.
Uhlenbeck has been recognized for several other awards in the course of her career. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1983, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986, was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2000 and received the Steele Prize for a Seminal Contribution to Research from the American Mathematical Society in 2007.
“For more than three decades at the University of Texas, Karen Uhlenbeck conducted research that revolutionized geometric analysis and mathematics as a whole,” UT President Gregory L. Fenves said in a statement. “She was an inspiring teacher and dedicated mentor to thousands of UT students, motivating them to reach great heights in their academic and professional lives.”
Andrea Nahmod, a mathematics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said she met Uhlenbeck as a postdoctorate student at UT and later collaborated with her on a project. She said the two would spend hours talking about ideas, sometimes for so long they would miss lunch.
“She is one of those people when you talk mathematics you feel as if your brain opens up,” Nahmod said. “You think in a new direction, a new dimension, in a way that you had not anticipated before. It is magical I would say.”
Nahmod said Uhlenbeck was particularly engaging with her female students, whom she would take to lunch to talk about projects — something unheard of for someone of her stature as the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair in Mathematics.
“She was a role model and an inspiration to me and certainly to other women,” Nahmod said. “She was so approachable, so human, and she was so generous with her time and her ideas. It was definitely something that stood out.”
Uhlenbeck helped start several mentoring programs at UT, including the Saturday Morning Math Group and the Distinguished Women in Mathematics Lecture Series. She said seeing the success of her students was its own reward.
UT’s Department of Mathematics Chair Thomas Chen said she “transformed the fabric of the department with her broad view of mathematics.”
“Her insatiable curiosity fuels both her deep vision in mathematics and wisdom in the human sphere, which is evident in her legendary generosity and attention to mentoring young mathematicians,” Chen said.