[The US Résumés of the Fields Medal Winners from China] #FieldsMedal #WangHong #DengYu
Chinese media high-profiled the celebration of Peking University mathematics graduates Wang Hong and Deng Yu winning the 2026 Fields Medal, becoming the first two mathematicians to win with Chinese citizenship. However, an analysis of their resumes reveals that their mathematical development trajectories string together top-tier Western training and research chains in the US and France. French President Emmanuel Macron called to congratulate them, while Tsinghua University Chair Professor Shing-Tung Yau publicly invited the two to return to China to teach, expressing hope that students trained locally in China will win in the future.
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Over the past couple of days, Chinese media have high-profiled the celebration of 2007 Peking University mathematics graduates Wang Hong and Deng Yu winning the 2026 Fields Medal. Previously, Chinese mathematicians Shing-Tung Yau and Terence Tao had also received this honor, but both were American citizens at the time of winning. Wang Hong and Deng Yu are the first two mathematicians to win with Chinese citizenship. Feeling very honored, and then being able to become the third female winner, and then hoping everyone can gather courage, bravely do what they like to do. I think this is also very good news for China, and I am personally very happy, hoping that more such things will happen in the future.
However, a closer look at their resumes reveals that Wang Hong and Deng Yu's mathematical growth trajectories almost string together the most elite training and research chains in the American mathematical community. Deng Yu only studied at Peking University for two years, transferring to MIT in 2009, then pursuing his PhD at Princeton, doing a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University, teaching at USC, and finally landing at the University of Chicago. When taking the gaokao, Wang Hong originally wanted to study in the Peking University mathematics department, but was reassigned to the School of Earth and Space Sciences, meaning he spent only three years in the mathematics department.
After graduating from Peking University in 2011, Wang Hong went to France to study for an engineering degree and master's degree at École Polytechnique and Paris-Sud University. After finishing his PhD at MIT, he entered the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as a postdoc, then taught at UCLA, and finally was promoted to full professor at New York University, while also serving as a permanent professor of mathematics at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France. After Wang Hong and Deng Yu won the awards, the two medals drew simultaneous celebrations from China, France, and the US. Chinese media emphasized they are Chinese mathematicians, and French President Emmanuel Macron personally called Wang Hong, emphasizing that this is the best manifestation of the openness and attractiveness of the French mathematical community.
Interestingly, Fields Medalist and Tsinghua University Chair Professor Shing-Tung Yau praised the two young scholars, saying that China has become a fertile ground for basic research. He publicly called out, inviting the two to return to China to teach. As the waves of the Yangtze River push the ones ahead, today, with the achievements of Wang Hong and Deng Yu, it is also my expectation to cultivate a large number of young scholars on our Chinese soil, walking our own path and completing the world's most advanced and top-notch work. Shing-Tung Yau expects that within the next decade, students cultivated locally in China will win the Fields Medal. This statement itself actually admits a fact: not a single one has done so yet.
Netizens said: "China can produce good seedlings, but the good soil is still overseas." Another netizen said: "Once the scientific research environment improves, they will naturally return."