Fields Medal

The Fields Medal is an award given every four years to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and the promise of future achievement. Named after Canadian mathematician John Charles (J.C.) Fields, The medal is awarded on the occasion of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) and is chosen by the Fields Medal Committee (chosen by the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union and normally chaired by the IMU President). The committee is asked to choose at least two recipients with a preference for four medalists and to represent the diversity of mathematical fields. To be eligible, a candidate must be under forty; that is, their fortieth birthday must not occur before January first of the year of the Congress where Fields Medals are awarded.

Regarded as the highest award in mathematics, the Fields Medal is commonly seen as the field's closest analog to the Nobel Prize, although it is only awarded every four years as opposed to annually. Alfred Nobel, whose will created the Nobel Prizes, did not create a prize in mathematics and did not have a significant interest in mathematics or theoretical science. Another award, the Abel Prize, was established by the Norwegian government in 2001 to act as a "Nobel Prize for Mathematics." The Abel Prize is awarded once a year and does not have an age limit.

Fields Medal winners receive CAD$15,000. As of the 2018 ICM, there have been sixty Fields Medal winners.

At the 1924 ICM held in Toronto, Canada, a resolution was adopted that two gold medals should be awarded to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement at future ICMs. Professor J. C. Fields, a Canadian mathematician who was secretary of the 1924 Congress, later donated funds to establish the medals, which were named in his honor. The meeting minutes of the committee organizing the ICM on February 24, 1931 stated:

resolved that the sum of $2,500 should be set apart for two medals to be awarded in connection with successive International Mathematical Congresses through an international committee appointed for such purpose initially by the executive of the International Mathematical Congress, but later by the International Mathematical Union

The idea was supported by the major mathematical societies of France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States, and the medal, in spite of Field's intentions, became known as the Fields Medal. In regard to the age limit of forty years, Fields wrote:

while it was in recognition of work already done it was at the same time intended to be an encouragement for further achievement on the part of the recipients and a stimulus to renewed effort on the part of others.

The Fields Medals were first awarded at the 1936 ICM in Oslo. The first winners were Lars Valerian Ahlfors (Finnish mathematician working at Havard University) and Jesse Douglas (American Mathematician working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In 1966, it was agreed that up to four medals could be awarded at each Congress. In 1990, Edward Witten became the first physicist to win the Fields Medal. In 2014, Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani became the first female winner of the Fields Medal.

The medal itself is made from 14K gold with a diameter of 63.5 mm and weighing 169 g. The finish is sandblasted, engraved, gold plated, and lacquered.

Obverse and reverse of the Fields Medal.

The obverse of the medal depicts the head of Archimedes facing right, with the reverse having the inscription:

CONGREGATI EX TOTO ORBE MATHEMATICI OB SCRIPTA INSIGNIA TRIBUERE

Which means:

The mathematicians having congregated from the whole world awarded (this medal) because of outstanding writings.