Terence Tao
Mathematician awarded the Fields Medal in 2006.
Terence Chi-Shen Tao is an Australian and American mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006 for his contributions to partial differential equations, combinatorics, harmonic analysis, and additive number theory. He is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he holds the James and Carol Collins Chair in the College of Letters and Sciences. Among his contributions to mathematics is the Green–Tao theorem on prime numbers, which he proved in 2004 in collaboration with Ben Green.
- born
- 17 July 1975
- field
- Mathematics
- nationality
- Australian and American
- known_for
- Green–Tao theorem, Fields Medal, work in harmonic analysis and number theory
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Tao was born to Chinese immigrant parents and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. A child prodigy, he skipped five grades and attended university-level mathematics courses at the age of 9. He is one of only three children in the history of the Johns Hopkins Study of Exceptional Talent program to score 700 or greater on the SAT math section while just eight years old; Tao scored a 760. He was the youngest participant in the International Mathematical Olympiad, first competing at age ten, and won bronze, silver, and gold medals in 1986, 1987, and 1988 respectively. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at age 16 from Flinders University under Garth Gaudry, and his PhD at age 21 from Princeton University under Elias Stein. He joined UCLA in 1996 and was promoted to full professor at age 24 in 1999, remaining the youngest person ever appointed to that rank by the institution.
Reader's Guide
Tao's significance lies in his extraordinary breadth and depth across multiple mathematical fields, including harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, algebraic combinatorics, arithmetic combinatorics, geometric combinatorics, probability theory, compressed sensing, and analytic number theory. His 2004 proof with Ben Green of the Green–Tao theorem—that there are arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of prime numbers—is a landmark result. He has resolved or advanced numerous conjectures, including the Erdős discrepancy problem in 2015 using entropy estimates within analytic number theory, and the de Bruijn–Newman constant in 2018 with Brad Rodgers, showing it is nonnegative. In 2020, he proved Sendov's conjecture for polynomials with sufficiently high degree. He received the Fields Medal in 2006, the Royal Medal and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2014, and was a 2006 MacArthur Fellow. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours and was selected as one of 30 members of President Joe Biden's President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2021.
Did You Know?
- Tao scored 760 on the SAT math section at age 8, one of only three children in the Johns Hopkins Study of Exceptional Talent program to achieve 700 or greater at that age.
- He is the youngest winner of each of the three medals (bronze, silver, gold) in the International Mathematical Olympiad's history.
- Tao was promoted to full professor at UCLA at age 24 in 1999, the youngest person ever appointed to that rank by the institution.
- After receiving the Breakthrough Prize in 2014, Tao used part of the prize money to establish fellowships for students.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Terence Tao?
Terence Chi-Shen Tao is a dual Australian-American mathematician born on 17 July 1975, best known for winning the 2006 Fields Medal. He currently holds the James and Carol Collins Chair as a professor of mathematics at UCLA.
What is the Green–Tao theorem?
Proved in 2004 by Tao together with Ben Green, this result shows that prime numbers contain arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. It is one of Tao's most celebrated contributions to additive number theory.
What areas of mathematics does Terence Tao work in?
His research spans partial differential equations, combinatorics, harmonic analysis, and additive number theory. The breadth of these contributions was a key reason the Fields Medal committee honored him in 2006.
Where does Terence Tao teach?
He is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he holds the James and Carol Collins Chair. His dual Australian and American nationality reflects his ties to both countries.
Why is Terence Tao considered so important?
He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and prolific mathematicians of his generation, producing landmark results across several subfields at once. His 2006 Fields Medal recognized work that fundamentally reshaped analysis, combinatorics, and number theory.
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