Shing-Tung Yau

Mathematician Class of 1985
location icon Location
La Jolla, California
age iconAge
36 at time of award

About Shing-Tung's Work

Shing-Tung Yau is a mathematician who specializes in differential equations, topology, and general relativity.

He is recognized internationally for his success in applying differential geometric techniques, especially the theory of minimal surfaces, to areas as diverse as general relativity, representation theory, and algebraic topology.  This work has expanded understanding of the roles basic partial differential equations play within the fields of mathematics and physics.  Yau has been editor-in-chief of the Journal of Differential Geometry since 1980 and serves on the editorial boards of a number of additional publications, including the Journal of Mathematical Physics, Advances in Mathematics, and the Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics.

Biography

Yau is the William Casper Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University and a Distinguished Professor-at-Large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is also director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences.  He served previously as a professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Diego (1984-1987), a professor of mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University (1974-1979).

Yau received his Ph.D. (1971) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a D.Sc. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1980).

Last updated January 1, 2005.

Published on July 1, 1985

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