The news was announced on January 26 via the official website of HKU’s Faculty of Science, under the headline: “World-leading mathematician Professor Vu Ha Van joins the University of Hong Kong.”

The announcement hailed Professor Van as one of the world’s foremost mathematical minds, renowned for his work in combinatorics, probability theory, and random matrix theory. His arrival is expected to significantly enhance the university’s research capability and foster deeper international collaboration.

The statement highlighted his major academic recognitions: the George Pólya Prize in 2008, the Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize in 2012, and his invitation as a speaker at the 2014 International Congress of Mathematicians - each affirming his stature among the global mathematical elite.

Professor Van is best known for solving several foundational and long-standing problems in mathematics, including the Erdős–Folkman problem in number theory (with Endre Szemerédi), the Shamir conjecture in random graph theory (with Anders Johansson and Jeff Kahn), and the circular law conjecture along with the four moment theorem in random matrix theory (with Terence Tao).

At HKU, Professor Van is expected to strengthen both pure and applied mathematics, while helping train a new generation of mathematicians. The university underlined the growing importance of profound theoretical knowledge in today’s science and technology landscape, positioning his appointment as a strategic step forward.

Born in 1970 in Hanoi, Professor Van attended specialized mathematics programs at Chu Van An High School and Hanoi–Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. After excelling in Vietnam’s university entrance exams, he was selected to study in Hungary in 1987 and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1994.

He completed his PhD in mathematics at Yale University in 1998 and joined its faculty in 2011. Over the years, he has built an international reputation for his contributions to some of the most challenging areas in modern mathematics.

In Vietnam, Professor Van continues to serve as Scientific Director of VinBigdata and the VinIF Research Support Fund under VinUni, two major initiatives he helped establish in 2018.

Thanh Hung