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The international conference ‘Geometric Analysis: Present and Future’ was held at Harvard University from 27 August to 1 September 2008 to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prof. Yau Shing-tung. The Mathematics Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was a co-organizer of the conference. Five members from the department and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMS) were in attendance. Prof. Lawrence J. Lau, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, delivered a speech at the banquet held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. He summarized Prof. Yau’s achievements, as well as his long history with and significant contributions to CUHK. He also presented Prof. Yau with a couplet written on two scrolls that had Prof. Yau’s name tactfully embedded in the text.

The conference speakers consisted of top experts from the fields of differential geometry, algebraic geometry, differential equations, general relativity theory and string theory, including two Fields medalists, an Abel Prize winner, nine members of the National Academy of Sciences (US) and other distinguished mathematicians from around the world. Prof. Xin Zhouping from the IMS was one of the speakers. No conference of this scale and calibre has ever been held in dedication to the birthday of a single mathematician, and it is also hard to imagine another one in the near future.

A Mathematical Giant
Prof. Yau’s 60th birthday was indeed a milestone in his 40-year career in mathematics. After studying at CUHK, he studied under Prof. Chern Shiing-shen, the late giant in geometry, at UC Berkeley. He went on to teach at Stanford University, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and UC San Diego. He is now the William Casper Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University and a Distinguished Professor-at-Large at CUHK.

Prof. Yau’s best known work is the solution to the Calabi conjecture on the existence of the Kahler-Einstein metric, which now plays a central role in string theory. He also solved the positive mass conjecture in general relativity theory with mathematician Richard Schoen. And the famous Li-Yau differential Harnack estimate for the heat equation had motivated a crucial part in the Perelman-Hamilton solution of the Poincaré Conjecture. The impact of his work is immense and has affected many areas of modern mathematics and physics. The area of Geometric Analysis was based on his earlier work, which has now become one of the most important fields in mathematics.

Towards a Mathematic Powerhouse
Prof. Yau is a man with enormous energy. His dream is to raise the level of mathematics research in China so that Chinese mathematicians can excel in the international arena. He has attracted the best minds from China to work with him. In order to broaden impact, he recognizes the importance of seeding research institutes, which provide the environment for work on cutting-edge projects and nurturing young researchers.

In 1993, he established the IMS in CUHK. After 15 years, the IMS has become one of the most important research institutes in the world, with all its academic activities being supported by public donations. In the subsequent years he established two more institutes—the Morningside Center of Mathematics in Beijing and the Center of Mathematical Sciences in Hangzhou.

Prof. Yau never declines to give public lectures or to mentor students of various levels. He sees these as the only ways to popularize mathematics. To encourage mathematical thinking in youngsters, he founded the high profile Hang Lung Mathematics Award for high school students. Unlike other mathematical competitions, it emphasizes research and creativity. The programme has been very successful and he is bringing this model to mainland China this year. Its impact will surely be felt very soon.

Prof. Yau is a great mathematician; but he is also a great teacher, a great friend, a loving father and husband. His knowledge extends beyond mathematics to Chinese literature and history. He recently published a selection of his poems. He has done more than anyone in our living memory to advance mathematics in Hong Kong, as Prof. Lau Ka-sing, chairman of the Mathematics Department, put it at the opening ceremony of the conference, ‘We wholeheartedly thank you for all you have done for the Mathematics Department, for the Chinese University, and for the mathematics community in Hong Kong. No one has ever done so much as you, and Hong Kong is really proud of you.’

The Much-Honoured Mathematician
Prof. Yau Shing-tung has received numerous awards and honours, to name a few, the Veblen Prize in Geometry, the Fields Medal (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics), MacArthur Fellowship, the Crafoord Prize and the US National Medal of Science. Part of his work is summarized in the citation of US National Medal of Science, which he received in 1997:
For profound contributions to mathematics that have a great impact on fields as diverse as topology, algebraic geometry, general relativity and string theory. His work insightfully combines two different mathematical approaches and has resulted in the solution of several long-standing and important problems in mathematics.