Kyoto University professor emeritus Heisuke Hironaka, a renowned mathematician, died on Wednesday at age 94. He won the Fields Medal in 1970 for his work in algebraic geometry.
Kyoto University professor emeritus Heisuke Hironaka, born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, studied at Kyoto University and Harvard University. Specializing in algebraic geometry, he won the Fields Medal in 1970 for his research on the resolution of singularities on an algebraic variety. This made him the second Japanese recipient of the prize, often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics. In 1975, he received the Order of Culture. He served as a professor at Harvard University and director of Kyoto University's Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences. From 1996 to 2002, he was president of Yamaguchi University. Hironaka also founded the Sansu Olympics, a math competition for children, in 1992, contributing to education.