Tsimerman is only the second Canadian to have been awarded the Fields Medal, mathematics’ most prestigious prize. He was honoured for helping to prove the André-Oort conjecture—a problem that preoccupied mathematicians for about 30 years. (The Logic)

Talking point: The André-Oort conjecture concerns complicated geometric objects called Shimura varieties, which are central to modern mathematics. Tsimerman’s work was crucial in completing the proof of the conjecture. The Fields Medal, often described as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, is only awarded every four years to between two and four mathematicians under the age of 40. Tsimerman is the first recipient to be based at a Canadian university. (Hamilton, Ont.-born Manjul Bhargava, who won in 2014, is based at Princeton University.)