Kenji Fukaya, a Japanese mathematician “with global influence”, has been appointed a full-time professor at Tsinghua University’s Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre. - Photo: Tsinghua University
BEIJING: Award-winning Japanese mathematician Kenji Fukaya has left Stony Brook University in the US to join China’s Tsinghua University as a full-time professor.
Fukaya, previously a permanent member of the Simons Centre for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook, delivered his first lecture at Tsinghua on September 11, according to the university’s Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre.
His open course on symplectic geometry – which studies spaces where objects such as planets and particles move and interact – drew a large audience of students and teachers, the centre reported on its official WeChat account.
In a video shared by the centre, Fukaya said Chinese students reminded him of Japanese students from his youth because both showed strong focus and dedication to studying mathematics.
He expressed hope that as more researchers born in China returned to teach there, a community of highly skilled, domestically educated mathematicians would continue to grow.
Fukaya, now associated with both the Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre and the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, expressed hope that the return of more China-born researchers to teach in the country would promote the development of a community of highly skilled, domestically educated mathematicians. These institutions were established at Tsinghua by Chinese-American mathematician Shing-Tung Yau.
Fukaya, globally recognized for his contributions to mathematics, initially focused on Riemannian geometry. However, since the 1990s, his research has pivoted to symplectic geometry, creating influential tools for fields like low-dimensional topology and mirror symmetry. His work connects various areas of mathematics and physics, offering insights into complex systems.
Fukaya was awarded the Japanese Mathematical Society's Geometry Prize in 1989 and Spring Prize in 1994.
He also received the Inoue Prize in 2002, the Japan Academy Prize in 2003, the Asahi Prize in 2009,and the Fujihara Award in 2012.He has served on the governing board of the Japanese Mathematical Society and on the Mathematical Committee of the Science Council of Japan.
Fukaya was an invited speaker at the 1990 International Congress of Mathematicians in Kyoto, where he gave a talk entitled, Collapsing Riemannian Manifolds and its Applications. - Agencies
