Every four years, during the International Congress of Mathematicians, the International Mathematical Union awards the highest academic honor in the field of mathematics, the Fields Medal. This year, former Illinois graduate student June Huh—now a professor in mathematics at Princeton University—is among the four recipients of this prestigious award. 

Huh found his way to mathematics in his final year of undergraduate coursework, via a lecture with Heisuke Hironaka, a Fields Medalist himself. Huh began applying to mathematics graduate programs, and in the fall of 2009, he began courses at Illinois, the only U.S. program that accepted his application. While at Illinois, Huh proved a conjecture that had been open for more than 40 years. Since then, Huh has built an impressive research career in the field of combinatorics. 

Learn more about Dr. June Huh’s life, career, and other achievements in these profiles published in Quanta Magazine and The New York Times. 

The Simons Foundation, in collaboration with the International Mathematical Union, has produced a video honoring Dr. Huh. The video was presented during the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Helsinki on July 5, 2022. Watch the video here: https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal/fields-medals-2022