The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize, the Gauss Prize, and the Chern Medal are awarded during the congress's opening ceremony. Each congress is memorialized by a printed set of Proceedings recording academic papers based on invited talks intended to be relevant to current topics of general interest. Being invited to talk at the ICM has been called the equivalent of an induction to the mathematical hall of fame. Our Duke Math professors, Samit Dasgupta and Lillian Pierce, have been asked to speak at the next ICM.
Lillian Pierce has been asked as an invited speaker for two sections: Number Theory and Analysis. Here is what she has to say:
Each ICM is accompanied by a published Proceedings, which includes articles the invited speakers write about their work. These Proceedings are available online, and you can look back over decades to see the “state of the art” during the time of each ICM. For many years I have been inspired by articles from earlier ICM Proceedings—these often include open-ended questions or hint at directions the field might move toward. Now I feel tremendously honored to have the chance to write such an article myself.
I am honored to be invited to represent both number theory and analysis, since my work flows freely between these fields.
Samit Dasgupta will be an invited speaker in the Number Theory section of the conference. He and his collaborator, Mahesh Kakde, will contribute a paper to the proceedings collection and give a talk. Here's what Samit has to say:
I am very grateful to the ICM committee for selecting me for this distinction. The list of speakers at the ICM, both this year and historically, contains many of the most significant figures in our field, and it is a great honor to be included among them.
Congratulations to both professors for this incredible honor - the Math department is truly proud and appreciative of their hard work and dedication to mathematics. Other Duke Math professors who have spoken at the ICM are:
Alexander Kiselev 2018
Hubert Bray 2002
Gregory Lawler 2002
Paul Aspinwall 1998
David Morrison 1994
J. Thomas Beale 1994
Ingrid Daubechies 1994
Rick Durrett 1990
Leslie Saper 1990
Robert Bryant 1986
William K. Allard 1974
