"International Women in Maths Day 2020”
Today's International Women's Day is a good opportunity to give insights into our plans for the "International Women in Maths Day 2020". Around May 12th, the date of birth of Maryam Mirzakhani, the first and so far only female winner of the Fields Medal, a variety of activities will take place.
The day provides a great opportunity for the mathematical community around the world to celebrate women in mathematics and make their achievements more visible. The aim is to inspire people and promote an open, welcoming and inclusive working environment for all.
Since in Münster we share these goals, we are happy to participate in these worldwide celebrations. Not only on May12th, but throughout the week from May 11th to 15th 2020, there will be activities with different focuses for the scientific community of Mathematics Münster. The programme will be published within the next weeks.
For the public, we are showing the film "Hidden Figures" about female African-American mathematicians who worked at NASA in the 1960s, in cooperation with Cinema Münster.
++ Update 18 march 2020: Due to the corona pandemic, the planned internal and public events unfortunately have to be postponed to next year. ++
++ Update 8 May 2020: Please visit go.wwu.de/women-in-maths to see our activities for 2020 ++
Who was Maryam Mirzakhani?
Maryam Mirzakhani was an Iranian mathematician and a Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University. She was one of the world’s leading experts in geometry and dynamical systems. In 2014, she was awarded the Fields Medal for her outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces, becoming the first woman, and the first Iranian, to be recognised for her mathematical achievements by this top mathematical prize. Her beautiful and astonishing results and her life and career are an inspiration for everyone, women and men, to pursue their dreams in science. She died from cancer in 2017 at the early age of 40. 12th May, her birthday, was chosen to celebrate Women in Mathematics in her memory.