Iranian mathematics genius Maryam Mirzakhani passes away

Cairo –15 July 2017: Maryam Mirzakhani, the Iranian mathematics genius, has died at the age of 40 due to the spread of breast cancer.

Maryam, an Iranian-born mathematician, paved the way for many girls in the mathematics field in Iran, the Middle East and worldwide.

Her interest in math began at a time when girls were not presented with the math classes like the boys in high school were, and when the Iranian International Mathematical Olympiad team had never fielded a girl.

Her fight saw early success when she won two International Mathematical Olympiad competitions in Tehran where she grew up.

In 1999, she graduated from Iran’s Sharif University of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. 2004 saw her move to the US to study at Harvard University in 2004 and earning a Ph.D. in mathematics. In 2008 until her last days, she was a professor of mathematics at Stanford University.

Her career’s greatest achievement came when she became the first woman to win the renowned Fields Medal for mathematics in 2014, which is the equivalent to the “Nobel Prize for mathematics”.

Maryam called her achievement a “great honor” and expressed that it is her dream to inspire other young girls to pursue a career in mathematics.

“I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians,” she said. “I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years.”