McGill Doctoral graduate recognized for research excellence

Xiangwen Zhang to receive CMS 2014 Doctoral Prize

OTTAWA — The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is pleased to announce Xiangwen Zhang as the recipient of the 2014 Doctoral Prize. Zhang will receive his award and present a lecture at the 2014 CMS Winter Meeting in Hamilton.

The CMS annually awards the Doctoral Prize to a Canadian doctoral student who has demonstrated exceptional performance in the area of mathematical research. The Doctoral Prize recipient is selected primarily based on the impact of results and creativity of their dissertation, however other activities and accomplishments in the area of mathematics are also taken into consideration.

“Xiangwen Zhang is one of the most brilliant Ph.D. students I have met in my 23 years at McGill. The research he has done for his thesis is of a very high caliber and has put him in the company of the most gifted geometric analysts of his generation,” said Niky Kamran (McGill) in his letter of support for Zhang. “I strongly feel that his thesis is eminently worthy of the great honor that is represented by the CMS Doctoral Prize.”

Zhang's Ph.D. thesis, Complex Monge-Ampère Equation and its Applications in Complex Geometry, was written under the supervision of Professor Pengfei Guan (McGill). In his thesis, Zhang solves many problems related to the Monge-Ampère equations on manifolds – which have been a subject of extensive study since 1978.

“Overall, Dr. Zhang's thesis contains many beautiful original results, which show an impressive mastery of this difficult subject as well as great creative power,” said Valentino Tosatti (Northwestern University), an external reviewer at Zhang’s thesis defense. “It has already generated a lot of interest by some of the leaders in the area. I believe this is one of the best theses in this field in the past few years.”

As a result of his outstanding achievements in the area of research, Zhang received the Alexis D. And W. Charles Pelletier Fellowship in 2012 and the Carl Herz Prize in 2011. Zhang’s work has been published by the International Mathematics Research Notices, the Journal of Functional Analysis the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, Advances in Mathematics and the Indiana University Math Journal.

Xiangwen Zhang graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2007 with a B.S. in mathematics and went on to obtain his M.S. in mathematics in 2008 at McGill University. Zhang completed his Ph.D. from McGill in 2012 and is now employed by Columbia University as a Ritt Assistant Professor.

For more information, please contact:

Stephen Kudla University of Toronto Chair, CMS Research Committee Canadian Mathematical Society 905-525-9140 ext. 23418 chair-resc@cms.math.ca

or

Jessica St-James Communications and Special Projects Officer Canadian Mathematical Society (613) 722-2662 ext. 728 commsp@cms.math.ca

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

The CMS is the main national organization whose goal is to promote and advance the discovery, learning, and application of mathematics. The Society's activities cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in mathematics education at all levels. The CMS annually sponsors mathematics awards and prizes that recognize outstanding achievements.