Hong Wang, a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and the Institute des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France, has made history as one of the four recipients of the 2026 Fields Medal. Her recognition comes from her significant contributions to harmonic analysis and metric geometry, particularly her solution to the Kakeya conjecture in three-dimensional space, a problem that has remained unsolved for over a century.

Born in 1991 in Guilin, Guangxi, China, Wang was raised by parents who were both middle school teachers. From a young age, she exhibited exceptional mathematical abilities, often viewing numbers as toys. She accelerated her education, skipping grades and demonstrating a keen interest in mathematics, which she explored creatively, even using lip balm to write formulas on the floor.

Despite her early promise, Wang faced challenges during her academic journey. At 16, she scored 653 out of 750 on the national college entrance examination, which was not enough to enroll in the mathematics program at Peking University. Instead, she entered the Earth and Space Sciences program. Driven by her passion for mathematics, she self-studied to transfer to the mathematics department the following year.

Wang's journey took a turn when she initially abandoned mathematics due to the intense competition at Peking University, feeling lost among many talented peers. In 2011, she took a six-month hiatus from mathematics to study architecture in France, but ultimately realized her love for mathematics remained strong.

After earning her master's degree, Wang pursued a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014, where she began researching Fourier analysis and geometric measure theory. Her interest in the Kakeya conjecture grew during this time, which poses the question of the smallest area required to rotate a needle in every direction. While the two-dimensional case was solved, the three-dimensional version eluded mathematicians for over a century.

Wang's research culminated in a 127-page paper published in 2025, co-authored with Joshua Zahl from the University of British Columbia, which provided a solution to the Kakeya problem. Their work has significant implications for fields such as signal processing and remote sensing, establishing a new analytical framework.

In addition to her academic achievements, Wang has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Clay Prize, Salem Prize, and the Breakthrough New Horizons Prize in Mathematics. She is also an avid sports enthusiast, enjoying table tennis, fencing, and online Taekwondo classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang describes the beauty of mathematics as understanding a concept clearly and elegantly, where the connections between different areas of mathematics become apparent. Her journey from feeling lost to becoming a leading figure in mathematics is an inspiring testament to her resilience and passion for the subject.