Sun-Yung Alice Chang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sun-Yung Alice Chang
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| 張聖容 | |
Sun-Yung Alice Chang, 2007
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| Born | 1948 (age 76–77) Xi'an, China
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | National Taiwan University (BS) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
| Spouse(s) | Paul C. Yang |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles Princeton University |
| Doctoral advisor | Donald Sarason |
Sun-Yung Alice Chang is a famous Taiwanese-American mathematician. She was born in 1948. She studies different areas of mathematical analysis, like harmonic analysis and differential geometry. These are types of math that help us understand shapes and patterns. She is a professor of mathematics at Princeton University.
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Early Life and Education
Alice Chang was born in Xian, China, in 1948. She grew up in Taiwan. She loved math from a young age.
She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), in 1970. She got this degree from National Taiwan University. Later, she moved to the United States.
In 1974, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. For her Ph.D., she studied special kinds of math problems. These problems involved "bounded analytic functions."
Career in Mathematics
Alice Chang became a full professor at UCLA in 1980. This was a big achievement in the math world. She taught and did research there for many years.
In 1998, she moved to Princeton. She became a professor at Princeton University. She has been teaching there ever since.
Research Work
Professor Chang's research focuses on how differential equations relate to shapes. She studies "geometric types of nonlinear partial differential equations." This means she looks at how math equations can describe complex shapes. She also works on "isospectral geometry." This is about understanding shapes that might look different but have similar mathematical properties.
She often works with other mathematicians. Her husband, Paul Yang, is also a mathematician. Together, they have made important discoveries. Their work connects differential equations with geometry and topology. Topology is a branch of math that studies shapes that can be stretched or bent without tearing.
Teaching and Visiting Positions
Besides her work at Princeton, Professor Chang has taught at other places. She was a visiting professor at the University of California-Berkeley. She also visited the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. She taught at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.
Alice Chang believes that mathematicians should have freedom in their work. She once said that math research is like art. She thinks there should be room for both individual and team research.
Her life and work were featured in a 2017 movie. It was a documentary called Girls who fell in love with Math.
Awards and Achievements
Alice Chang has received many awards for her important work. Here are some of them:
- Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, 1979–1981
- Invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Berkeley, 1986. This is a very important math conference.
- Vice president of the American Mathematical Society, 1989-1991
- Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics of the American Mathematical Society, 1995. This award is given to women in mathematics.
- Guggenheim Fellowship, 1998
- Plenary Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing, 2002. Being a plenary speaker means giving a main talk at the conference.
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2008
- Honorary Degree, UPMC, 2013
- Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2009. This is a very high honor for scientists in the U.S.
- Fellow, Academia Sinica, 2012
- Fellow, American Mathematical Society, 2015
- Fellow, Association for Women in Mathematics, 2019
- MSRI Simons Professor, 2015-2016
