MIT alumni Yu Deng ’11 and Hong Wang PhD ’19 were among the four young mathematicians awarded Fields Medals on July 23 at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). The Fields Medal is awarded once every four years at the ICM, and is regarded as one of the highest honors a mathematician can receive. Yu Deng received his BS in mathematics at MIT in 2011, and was a Putnam Fellow in 2010. Hong Wang received her PhD at MIT in 2019 under the supervision of Larry Guth PhD ’05. “The achievements of Yu Deng and Hong Wang are truly monumental, and we are all elated that they were awarded Fields Medals,” department head and RSA Professor of Mathematics Michel Goemans says.