By Liz Fuller-Wright
![June Huh](https://i0.wp.com/discovery.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2022/12/Discovery-2022-23_selected-awards_June-Huh-by-Denise-Applewhite.jpg?resize=1024%2C744&ssl=1)
June Huh, professor of mathematics, was awarded the 2022 Fields Medal, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of mathematics,” in recognition of his work in combinatorics. He was awarded a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship for “discovering underlying connections between disparate areas of mathematics and proving long-standing mathematical conjectures.”
Huh’s research focuses on geometry, topology, and the combinatorics of algebraic varieties. He is known for proving long-standing mathematical conjectures by building bridges between different branches of math, especially combinatorics and algebraic geometry.
Algebraic geometry involves the properties of geometric structures — like curves or surfaces — that are described using polynomial equations. Combinatorics concerns counting, arranging and combining sets of elements within a discrete system. Most mathematicians consider algebraic geometry and combinatorics distinct, almost unrelated branches of mathematics, but Huh saw how these widely different fields could answer each other’s long-standing questions.
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