Contents
June Huh
Connecting geometry and combinatorics to solve longstanding mathematical problems.
Chromatic polynomials · Matroid theory
- Born
- 1983
- Birthplace
- Stanford, United States
More people
June Huh
June Huh is a mathematician whose work links the geometry of shapes with discrete structures such as networks. He received a Fields Medal in 2022.
Early life
Raised in South Korea
Born while his parents were studying at Stanford, he moved to South Korea as a young child.
Unexpected direction
Initially hoped to write poetry or become a science journalist before Heisuke Hironaka’s lectures drew him toward mathematics.
Career
- 2009
Doctoral study
Began graduate study in the United States.
- 2014
Michigan doctorate
Completed his PhD under Mircea Mustață.
- 2021
Princeton
Joined the university’s mathematics faculty.
- 2022
Fields Medal
Received the award for work connecting geometry and combinatorics.
Contributions
Chromatic polynomials
Published a proof about the pattern of coefficients in graph-colouring polynomials.
Matroid theory
With Karim Adiprasito and Eric Katz, proved a major log-concavity conjecture.
Lorentzian polynomials
With Petter Brändén, developed a framework extending these mathematical connections.
Beyond mathematics
Poetry
His early ambition to be a poet preceded his turn to research mathematics.
Family
Met his wife, mathematician Kim Nayoung, at Seoul National University; they have two sons.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Further source: princeton.edu ↗Photo: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. CC BY 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
