Tadashi Tokieda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tadashi Tokieda
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Tokieda in 2013
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| Born | 1968 (age 56–57) Tokyo, Japan
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| Education | Sophia University University of Oxford Princeton University |
| Awards | Paul R. Halmos–Lester R. Ford Award (2014) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Princeton University Cambridge University Stanford University |
| Thesis | Null Sets of Symplectic Capacity |
| Doctoral advisor | William Browder |
Tadashi Tokieda (born in 1968) is a Japanese mathematician and physicist. He is a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Before that, he worked at Cambridge University. He loves to invent and study toys that show surprising things about math and physics.
Unlike many mathematicians, Tadashi Tokieda had a very interesting journey. He first wanted to be a painter. Then he studied old languages, like Latin and Greek. After that, he finally became a mathematician. He is famous for his amazing public talks. In these talks, he uses simple, fun, and beautiful ways to explain math and science ideas.
Life and Early Career
Tadashi Tokieda was born in Tokyo, Japan. When he was young, he planned to become a painter. Later, he went to school in France. There, he studied philology, which is the study of languages and old texts. He taught himself basic math by solving problems from Russian books.
Education and Studies
In 1989, he earned a degree in classical studies from Sophia University in Tokyo. He then went to Oxford University in England. In 1991, he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Oxford. He completed his PhD in 1996 at Princeton University in the United States. His main teacher there was William Browder.
Teaching and Research
After his PhD, Tokieda worked at the University of Illinois. He was a research professor there for a year. Since 2003, he has been involved with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. This institute helps students in Africa learn math.
In 2004, he became a Fellow at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was also the Director of Studies in Mathematics there. From 2013 to 2014, he was a special Fellow at Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. In 2015 and 2016, he was a visiting professor at Stanford University. He later became a full professor there.
Languages and Travel
Tadashi Tokieda speaks many languages. Besides Japanese, he is fluent in French and English. He also knows ancient Greek, Latin, and classical Chinese. He can speak Finnish, Spanish, and Russian too. He has lived in eight different countries around the world.
In March 2020, he was interviewed on a podcast called The Joy of X. This podcast is about science and math.
