Ngo Bao Chau was honored as a Young World Leader.

Professor Ngo Bao Chau has just been awarded the title of Young World Leader for his contributions to society and future influence.

Ngo Bao Chau is one of 190 young leaders honored by the World Economic Forum this year. Those honored in this list were selected based on criteria of professional achievements, level of dedication to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through influential leadership.

Professor Ngo Bao Chau was awarded the Fields Medal.
at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2010. Photo: AFP

The list was just announced yesterday, in which Vietnam has two people.

Professor Ngo Bao Chau, 39 years old, last year won the prestigious Fields Medal for young mathematicians for proving the "Fundamental Lemma". Previously, his work was voted by the prestigious American popular magazine Time as "one of the 10 outstanding scientific discoveries of 2009".

Bao Chau’s Fields Medal has delighted millions of Vietnamese people. Many young people have expressed their admiration for the professor, saying that he is a source of inspiration for them in their studies.

He has just been appointed as Director of the Vietnam Institute of Advanced Mathematics. Currently, Ngo Bao Chau works at the Mathematics Department of the University of Chicago, USA.

In 2005, at the age of 33, Ngo Bao Chau was specially awarded the title of professor in Vietnam. He is currently the youngest professor in Vietnam. A year later, he was invited to read the subcommittee report at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid (Spain). He is the third Vietnamese to have this honor. Before him were two Vietnamese living abroad, Professor F. Pham and Professor Duong Hong Phong.

Along with Professor Bao Chau, another Vietnamese-American was also awarded this year. Jimmy Pham, founder of KOTO - an organization that provides vocational training for street children in Vietnam, was honored for helping more than 300 Vietnamese youth escape poverty over the years.

The young leaders on this year's World Economic Forum list come from 65 countries and regions. They come from a range of sectors, including business, government, academia, media, nonprofits, arts and culture. The leaders are selected by a committee chaired by Queen Rania of Jordan. This year, East Asia has the largest number of young leaders, 50.

According to VnExpress