(Image source from: The Hindu)

A renowned Indian-Australian mathematician Akshay Venkatesh, who is currently teaching at Stanford University has been bestowed with mathematics esteemed Fields medal among four others, which is known as the Nobel prize for math.  

For every four years, the Fields medals are awarded to the most promising mathematicians under the age of 40.

The New-Delhi born 93-year-old has won the Fields Medal for his "profound contributions to an exceptionally broad range of subjects in mathematics."

On Wednesday, at the International Congress of Mathematics, the citation for his medal has been awarded in Rio de Janeiro highlights his "profound contributions to an exceptionally broad range of subjects in mathematics" and his "strikingly far-reaching conjectures."

The winner's received a Canadian-dollar cash prize of 15,000.

At least two, and preferably four people, are always honored in the award ceremony.

In 1932, the prize was commenced at the request of John Charles Fields, a Canadian mathematician who ran the 1924 Mathematics Congress in Toronto.

Venkatesh's life journey has been full of accolades and achievements - from being a child prodigy to becoming one of the most renowned researchers in the mathematics field.

He moved to Perth, Australia, with his parents when he was 2.

He participated the premier international competitions for high school students - in maths and physics Olympiads and won medals in the two subjects at ages 11 and 12, respectively.

At the age of 13, he finished his high school and at of 16, he graduated from University of Western Australia with first class honors in mathematics in 1997.

In 2002, at the age of 20, he earned his Ph.D. At MIT, he held a post-doctoral position to become a Clay Research Fellow and, at present a professor at Stanford University.

By Sowmya Sangam