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Vietnamese mathematician Ngo Bao Chau (1st left) is the focus of the international media at the International Congress of Mathematicians in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on August 19, 2010. Photo: Tuoi Tre/Hoai Linh
President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung have congratulated Vietnamese mathematician Ngo Bao Chau for winning the world’s top mathematics prize, the Fields Medal, Thursday.
Triet hailed the achievements and contributions made by Professor Chau, 38, to mathematics.
The Vietnamese-born professor -- who will move to the University of Chicago from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, both in the US, next month -- has brought honor to his homeland, he said.
He hoped Chau will continue to contribute to the field in Vietnam and the world.
Dung said: “I believe that with… the dedicated guidance of excellent professors like Chau, more young Vietnamese scientists will bring glory to the nation.”
The award is a great honor for the professor himself, his family, the country’s education, and the Vietnamese nation as a whole as well as a strong encouragement to young Vietnamese scientists, he added.
Vietnam is only the second nation in Asia after Japan to win the prize since its inception in 1936.
Hailing Chau’s contributions to mathematics teaching in Vietnam, he hoped the scientist will further contribute to the development of mathematics in the country.
Chau, after completing secondary school in Vietnam, moved to France and studied at the Université Paris 6 where he obtained his PhD under the supervision of Gérard Laumon.
