The Fields Medal, the world’s highest honor for mathematical research, has gone to two mathematicians who forged new links between different branches of mathematics. The recipients–announced this week at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing–are Laurent Lafforgue of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette, France, and Vladimir Voevodsky of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.
First awarded in 1936, the Fields Medal is now presented every 4 years by the International Mathematical Union to mathematicians of age 40 and younger “in recognition of work already done and as an encouragement for future achievements.”