Dr Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician and Stanford University professor of mathematics. Her research areas included Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry. In 2005, as a result of her research, she was acknowledged in Popular Science’s fourth annual “Brilliant 10” as one of the top 10 young minds who have pushed their fields in innovative directions.
On 13 August 2014, Mirzakhani received the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics, for her work in “the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces”. She was the first, and to date, the only woman and the first Iranian to be honored with the award.