John Pardon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Pardon
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Pardon receiving the 2017 Alan T. Waterman Award
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| Born | June 1989 (age 37) |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (AB) Stanford University (PhD) |
| Known for | Solving Gromov's problem on distortion of knots Proof of the 3 dimensional case of Hilbert–Smith conjecture |
| Awards | Morgan Prize (2012) Alan T. Waterman Award (2017) Clay Research Award (2022) New Horizons in Mathematics Prize (2025) Fields Medal (2026) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Princeton University Simons Center for Geometry and Physics |
| Doctoral advisor | Yakov Eliashberg |
John Vincent Pardon, born on June 1, 1989, is an American mathematician. He studies geometry and topology. These are branches of mathematics that explore shapes, spaces, and their properties. He is famous for solving a tough problem about knots. This problem was first asked by the famous mathematician Mikhael Gromov. For this important work, John Pardon received the Morgan Prize in 2012. He is now a permanent member at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. This center is in Stony Brook, New York. He also won the prestigious Fields Medal in 2026.
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John Pardon's Early Life and Education
John Pardon grew up loving math. His mother, Joyce Eileen Maggio Pardon, was a math teacher. She taught him early math skills. His father, William Pardon, was a math professor at Duke University. He also encouraged John's interest. While in high school at Durham Academy, John took advanced classes at Duke University.
High School Achievements
John was very talented in computer science too. He won three gold medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics. This happened in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2007, he earned second place in the Intel Science Talent Search. His project was about changing shapes without stretching them. He showed how a special kind of curve could become a rounder shape. It would not change its length or make any points closer. He published this important work in 2009.
University Studies at Princeton
After high school, John attended Princeton University. By his second year, he was taking advanced math classes. These were usually for graduate students.
While at Princeton, he tackled a big problem in knot theory. Knot theory studies how knots can be tied in space. A famous mathematician, Mikhail Gromov, had asked this question in 1983. John proved that some knots could be stretched a lot. This was the opposite of what many thought. His solution was published in 2011. This work won him the Morgan Prize in 2012.
John also learned Chinese at Princeton. He even debated in an international competition in Singapore. This event was broadcast on Chinese television. He is also a talented cello player. He won the Princeton Sinfonia concerto competition twice. He graduated in 2011 as the top student, called the valedictorian.
Graduate Work at Stanford
John then went to Stanford University for his advanced degrees. There, he solved another complex math problem. This was the three-dimensional part of the Hilbert–Smith conjecture. He earned his PhD in 2015. His advisor was Yakov Eliashberg. He then became an assistant professor at Stanford. In 2015, he also became a Clay Research Fellow for five years.
John Pardon's Career and Research
In 2016, John became a full professor of mathematics at Princeton University. He is now a permanent member at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. This center is in Stony Brook, New York. In 2023, he solved the MNOP conjecture. This was a complex problem about special geometric shapes called Calabi–Yau threefolds. He is also working on a book about symplectic geometry. This is another advanced area of math.
John's sister, Mireille Pardon, is also a professor. She teaches history at Berea College.
Awards and Recognitions
John has received many awards for his math work. In 2017, he won the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award. This award recognized his important work in geometry and topology.
In 2018, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He was also an invited speaker at a big math conference in Rio de Janeiro that year. He received the Clay Research Award in 2022. In 2025, he won the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize. Most recently, John Pardon was awarded the Fields Medal. This happened at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia in 2026. The Fields Medal is one of the highest honors in mathematics.
