– I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians. I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years, says Maryam Mirzakhani. Mirzakhani was born and raised in Tehran, where as a young girl she dreamed of becoming a writer. By high school, however, her affinity for solving mathematical problems and working on proofs had shifted her sights.
The Fields Medal is given to young researchers under age 40, as opposed to the Abel Prize which is given to long life careers, usually to aged researchers.
Read more at ICM2014.