Fields Medal

John Charles Fields (1863-1932) was a Canadian mathematician, educated in Toronto, Paris, and Berlin. He spent the bulk of his academic career at The University of Toronto (with a brief stint at Johns Hopkins University). Fields did original research in the theory of algebraic functions that was influenced by his reknowned mentors, Fuchs, Schwarz, Frobenius and Plank. However, he was better known as an administrator/organizer and is remembered, primarily, for establishing a mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prizes.

Fields, in large part, was responsible for putting together the 1924 meeting of the International Congress of Mathematics in Toronto. Against Fields' wishes, German mathematicians were "black-balled" from participating in this conference. Fields was so troubled by this politicizing of mathematics that he proposed the institution of an award for mathematical achievement and promise that would emphasize the international character of the mathematical endeavor. He endowed such an award in his will, and the first Fields Medal was awarded at the International Congress of Mathematics meetings in Oslo in 1936. Traditionally, Fields Medals have gone to young mathematicians -- under the age of 40. The intent of the awards is to applaud the exceptional scope and quality of the recipients' work and to assist them in conducting further research.