Which mathematician became the first woman to receive the Abel Prize, in 2019?

Karen Uhlenbeck became the first woman to receive the Abel Prize in 2019.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters honored Uhlenbeck for foundational work in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory, and integrable systems. Her research connected abstract mathematical analysis with geometry and theoretical physics.

The Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2002 and is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to mathematics. It is named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel and is often compared with the Nobel Prizes because mathematics has no Nobel category.

Uhlenbeck’s achievement is distinct from Maryam Mirzakhani’s: Mirzakhani was the first woman to win the Fields Medal, in 2014. The Fields Medal recognizes younger mathematicians and is awarded only every four years, whereas the Abel Prize has no equivalent age limit.