CUHK
News Centre

Prof. Xuhua HE, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Mathematics of the Department of Mathematics and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMS) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has just received The XPLORER PRIZE (Mathematics and Physics). Prof. HE is the first group of Hong Kong scholars to receive the award which was given for his spirit of scientific exploration and potential for innovation. 

Prof. HE is deeply honoured to be awarded the XPLORER PRIZE. He said, “I am grateful for the support of the organiser and members of the judging panel. This award not only recognises my work in arithmetic geometry and representation theory, but also gives me a push and encouragement to further my studies to promote the development of pure mathematics, and eventually lead to the advancement of science in the world, in Hong Kong, the country and globally.” 

An Internationally Renowned and Recognised Scholar in Pure Mathematics

Prof. HE works in pure mathematics. His research interests include arithmetic geometry, algebraic groups and representation theory. He has published 50 papers in SCI ranked mathematical journals and has several publications in the top mathematical journals, including Annals of Mathematics, IHES, Journal of the American Mathematical Society and Duke Journal of Mathematics. 

Prof. HE was awarded the Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics, at the 2013 International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians, for his contributions to several fundamental problems in arithmetic algebraic geometry, algebraic groups, and representation theory. His work in the mathematical area of algebra and number theory concerning Shimura varieties stands out. It is the decades-old riddle on the geometry of certain affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties which Prof. HE's work has solved and for which he was given the award. 

Prof. HE has been an invited speaker at various top international academic conferences, including the Current Development of Mathematics Conference in 2015 and the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2018. It is considered as a great honour to be invited as a speaker at these conferences. 

Prof. HE received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Peking University in 2001 and a Doctoral degree in Mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. Before taking up his current position in CUHK, he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Stony Brook University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Maryland from 2005 to 2008. Prof. HE was also the Von Neumann Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton during 2016 to 2017 and the Simons Visiting Professor at Université Paris Nord in May 2017. He joined the Department of Mathematics and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at CUHK in August 2019. 

About The XPLORER PRIZE 

The XPLORER PRIZE was initiated in 2018 by Huateng MA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent and founder of the Tencent Foundation, and Prof. Yi RAO of Peking University in cooperation with a number of well-known scientists including Prof. Chen Ning YANG, Nobel Laureate in Physics. The Award aims to foster and promote research on basic science and frontier technology among young scientists aged 45 or below, who are working full-time in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. The award is future-orientated to support the most promising candidates. 

The Award consists of nine disciplinary fields. They are Life Sciences, Astronomy and Geoscience, Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry and New Materials, Information and Electronics Technologies, Energy and Environmental Protection, Advanced Manufacturing, Transportation and Construction, and Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies. The 50 prize-winners will each receive 3 million RMB over 5 consecutive years.