Professor Choi Young-ju (MATH) was awarded the Korea Mathematical Society (KMS) academic award. The award is given annually to researchers who have made outstanding research achievements in a specific field and this is the first time a woman has received the award.

The KMS announced on Oct. 3 that it selected Prof. Choi as the winner of this year’s KMS academic award. The institute appraised that Prof. Choi set a new direction for research and led a great progress in the research of ‘L-functions’(a meromorphic function defined on a complex plane), which is one of the most difficult in number theory. Theories established by Prof. Choi are widely used in information security, communication technology, and high-tech cryptography systems.

The KMS gives its academic awards to researchers who have made outstanding achievements in mathematics and contributed significantly to academic development. Since 1982, one of the best mathematicians was awarded annually and this is the first time a woman has ever received it. Lee Hyang-sook, the president of the Korean Mathematical Society, said, “since the award is given based on the lifelong achievement of research it is meaningful that the first woman award winner has been made.”

Prof. Choi graduated from Ewha Womans University and received her doctorate at Temple University. After teaching at the University of Maryland and Colorado in the U.S., she has been working as a professor at POSTECH since 1990. Prof. Choi is also a fellow of the U.S. Institute of Mathematics, the world’s largest academic organization, and was selected as the first international editor of the International Journal of Number Theory. Prof. Choi was also the president of Korean Women in Mathematical Sciences.