Hanoi welcomes math whiz home

Hanoi-born Ngo Bao Chau, who won the world’s highest honor in mathematics last week, was greeted by senior government officials and hundreds of fans when he arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport Saturday.

He was arriving in Hanoi after attending the International Congress of Mathematicians in India, where he received the prestigious Fields Medal.

Chau was welcomed by Deputy Education and Training Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien, Deputy Science and Technology Minister Le Dinh Tien and many senior academics.

Hundreds of his fans also waited at the airport to see Chau and congratulate him on the award.

“I’m happy and moved by the love everyone has given me,” he told the press. The 38-year old mathematician, however, refused to answer more questions from the media.

An official ceremony to fete Chau will be held at the National Convention Center on Sunday night where he will be honored by Party and government officials. The event will be broadcast live nationwide.

Chau will join the mathematics faculty at the University of Chicago on September 1. The university said in a statement that Chau has made “decisive advances in modern mathematics on the frontiers of number theory and representation theory.”