Major events mark turning points: afterwards, much changes. That’s how Alessio Figalli feels too. One year ago on 1 August 2018 he won the
Fields Medal
, which is considered the “Nobel Prize of Mathematics”. Since then some things have changed in his everyday life – both professional and private. It was not only from the realm of academia that he received numerous congratulations, invitations and further honours. The spheres of economy and society, politics and media also signalled their recognition and showed greater interest.
“I’ve experienced surprising and touching moments”, reports Alessio Figalli with a smile, “for example, students have written me personal and very moving letters, and some of them even decided to study mathematics because they had read my story.” Strangers have approached him at airports or at public events to congratulate him or take a selfie with him.
Research remains important
The professor of mathematics hasn't experienced the commotion that typically surrounds stars from the worlds of sports, film or pop music. “I never felt like a pop star. I just keep on living my normal life”, he says, “Research remains an important part of that because it made me the person I am today. It gives me energy and motivation.” Last year, also his wife moved from England to Zurich.
Figalli himself received the first honorary doctorate of the University of Côte d’Azur and became a corresponding member of two scientific academies. The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, where he studied, honoured him with a
symposium
and ETH Zurich programmed an
honorary lecture
– which was fully booked in a mere 70 minutes.
His honorary citizenship from the community of Bari Sardo is emblematic of the reactions from politics and society: that is the small town on Sardinia where Alessio Figalli spent his summer holidays as a youth with his parents – so are the requests for lectures to school classes and the general public.
New worlds, new experiences
“Prior to the Fields Medal, I had never given a lecture before the general public. That was a completely new world to me”, adds Figalli, “I had to find a different way of thinking to explain what a mathematician does in a way that could be understood.” In the meantime he has come to value public appearances just as much as lectures to an academic audience. He appeared at the
Science Festival in Genoa
, for example. His message is clear: “Mathematics might appear abstract. But it has very concrete questions at its origin. It helps us to understand nature.”
