Akshay Venkatesh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Akshay Venkatesh
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Venkatesh in 2014
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| Born | 21 November 1981 New Delhi, India
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Princeton University University of Western Australia |
| Known for | Mathematical Work, Former Child Prodigy |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Paden |
| Awards | Salem Prize (2007) SASTRA Ramanujan Prize (2008) Infosys Prize (2016) Ostrowski Prize (2017) Fields Medal (2018) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Institute for Advanced Study (2005–2006, 2018–present) Stanford University (2008–2018) Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (2006–2008) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter Sarnak |
Akshay Venkatesh (born 21 November 1981) is an Indian Australian mathematician. He is a professor at the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study. He studies different areas of mathematics, especially how numbers behave.
He was the first Australian to win medals in both the International Physics Olympiad and the International Mathematical Olympiad. He achieved this when he was just 12 years old.
In 2018, he received the Fields Medal. This award is often called the "Nobel Prize of mathematics." He won it for combining different math ideas to solve tough problems. He is the second Australian and the second person of Indian descent to win this important medal.
Contents
Early Years and Amazing Talent
Akshay Venkatesh was born in Delhi, India. When he was two years old, his family moved to Perth, Australia. He went to Scotch College for school. His mother, Svetha, is a professor who teaches computer science.
Akshay was a child prodigy, meaning he was very gifted from a young age. He took extra classes for talented students in math. In 1993, at only 11 years old, he won a bronze medal at the International Physics Olympiad.
The next year, he focused on mathematics. He won a silver medal at the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad. Then, he earned a bronze medal at the 1994 International Mathematical Olympiad in Hong Kong.
He finished high school that same year, just before turning 13. He then became the youngest student ever at the University of Western Australia. He finished his four-year degree in only three years. At 16, he was the youngest person to get top honors in pure mathematics from the university.
His Journey in Mathematics
Akshay started his PhD at Princeton University in 1998. He finished it in 2002. After that, he worked as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From 2004 to 2006, he had a special fellowship from the Clay Mathematics Institute. He also became a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) from 2005 to 2006.
In 2008, he became a full professor at Stanford University. He returned to the IAS in 2017 and became a permanent professor there in August 2018.
Awards and Recognition
Akshay has received many important awards for his work in mathematics.
- In 2007, he won the Salem Prize. This award is for young mathematicians who do great work in a specific area of math called Fourier series. He also received a Packard Fellowship.
- In 2008, he won the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. This award is given to mathematicians under 32 years old. It recognizes their contributions to math, inspired by the famous Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
- In 2016, he received the Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences. This was for his wide-ranging and creative work in modern number theory.
- In 2017, he was awarded the Ostrowski Prize. This prize is given every two years for outstanding achievements in pure mathematics.
The biggest award he received was the Fields Medal in 2018. This medal is like the Nobel Prize for mathematics. He was honored for combining different math ideas. These ideas include the study of numbers, how things move, shapes, and patterns. His work helped solve long-standing problems in math.
University of Western Australia Professor Michael Giudici, who was Akshay's classmate, said that if his work was easy to explain, he wouldn't have received the Fields Medal. Australian mathematician Adam Spencer said that mathematicians are building our future. This includes things like computer coding, artificial intelligence, and app design.
Akshay's Fields Medal citation said he has made "profound contributions" to many areas of mathematics. It noted that he solved many old problems by mixing ideas from different fields. He also found new ways to look at classic problems. He described his work in 2016 as "looking for new patterns in the arithmetic of numbers."
When he received the award, Akshay said that doing math can be tough. But there are also moments where you feel lucky to work with it. He said you feel a sense of "transcendence," like you are part of something truly meaningful.
He was also chosen as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2025.
His Contributions to Mathematics
Akshay Venkatesh has made important discoveries in many parts of mathematics. This includes the study of numbers, patterns in math, and how different mathematical structures behave. He has worked alone and with other mathematicians.
He has used methods from a field called ergodic theory (which studies how systems change over time) to solve problems in number theory. For example, he worked with Jordan Ellenberg on a problem about how numbers can be represented.
With other mathematicians like Manfred Einsiedler, Elon Lindenstrauss, and Philippe Michel, Akshay solved a long-standing problem about the distribution of certain mathematical objects.
Akshay also found a new way to estimate the size of certain mathematical functions called L-functions. This work helped solve a complex problem in number theory. He and Philippe Michel completely solved this problem for some important types of L-functions.
