LAHORE – Karen Uhlenbeck, Ph.D., 76, a professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin and current visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study, was honored with the Abel Prize for mathematics. Known as the Nobel Prize for math, the Abel comes with a cash prize of about $700,000.
The International Mathematical Union and the European Mathematical Society nominate members of the Abel Committee, who in turn recommend recipients to The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, which awards the Abel Laureate.
This is the first time a woman has won the prestigious award.
Uhlenbeck learnt that she had won on 17 March, after a friend called and told her that the academy was trying to contact her. “I was completely amazed,” she told Nature. “It was totally out of the blue.” The academy announced the award on 19 March.
Women are excelling in all fields and proving their worth as each day passes. Way to go, ladies.
