Shing-Tung Yau on “My Geometric Life”: Mathematics, Discovery, and Academic Legacy

The University of Chicago Center in Beijing

20th floor, Culture Plaza
No. 59A Zhong Guan Cun Street
Haidian District Beijing 100872

On September 20, the University of Chicago Center in Beijing welcomed Fields Medalist and Dean of Tsinghua University’s Qiuzhen College Shing-Tung Yau for “My Geometric Life,” a special lecture attended by nearly 200 alumni, students, and guests from the University of Chicago and partner institutions. Co-hosted by the Center and the Alumni Club of Beijing, with support from a broad network of alumni associations and academic communities, the event marked Yau’s first visit to the Center and offered an opportunity to reflect on his longstanding connection with the University through his mentor, Shiing-Shen Chern, whose legacy continues to connect generations of mathematicians across institutions and borders.

Drawing on a mathematical journey from Hong Kong to UC Berkeley, the Institute for Advanced Study, and leading institutions in China, Yau reflected on the questions, discoveries, and setbacks that shaped his career, revisiting his work on the Calabi conjecture and Calabi–Yau manifolds and their far-reaching influence on theoretical physics, including string theory and mirror symmetry. More than a retrospective of landmark results, the lecture offered a reflection on mathematical inquiry itself: the importance of asking consequential questions, remaining open to being wrong, and pursuing ideas with persistence through uncertainty.

The lecture concluded with a wide-ranging exchange on mathematical education, scientific curiosity, interdisciplinary thinking, and AI in research. Reflecting on his commitment to cultivating future generations of mathematicians in China, Yau emphasized curiosity, sustained learning, and independent thought—qualities through which ideas are not only discovered, but carried forward across communities, institutions, and generations.