The American Iranian Council joins the world community in mourning the loss of Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani, the award-winning mathematician, professor at Stanford, and Tehran-native, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 40 after a four-year battle with breast cancer. AIC extends its condolences to her husband, daughter, extended family and colleagues.
 
AIC also celebrates Dr. Mirzakhani’s many contributions to mathematics and women’s equality. A pioneer in her field, Mirzakhani specialized in the geometric properties of curved surfaces and became the first and only woman, as well as the first Iranian, to receive the Fields Medal, often called “the mathematician’s Nobel Prize.”  Upon her passing, President Rouhani reflected that Mirzakhani “made Iran’s name resonate in the world’s scientific forums,” and that her work “was a turning point in showing the great will of Iranian women and young people on the path towards reaching the peaks of glory.”