Awards

David Nirenberg, IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor, has been awarded a 2026 Balzan Prize, recognizing his work in the field of Jewish Studies. The award celebrates groundbreaking scholarship that contributes “to the understanding of our world and our time” and promotes “the advancement of knowledge without borders.”

All three recipients of the 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) Medal in Mathematics have links to the Institute’s School of Mathematics: Claire Voisin, Distinguished Visiting Professor (2014–15); frequent IAS scholar Horng-Tzer Yau; and Shou-Wu Zhang, Member (1991–92). Xiao-Gang Wen, Member (1990–91) and IBM Einstein Fellow (2022–23) in the School of Natural Sciences, was also recognized with a Physics Medal.

Wendy Brown, Professor Emerita in the School of Social Science; Shatema Threadcraft, Ralph E. and Doris M. Hansmann Member (2017–18) in the School; and Peter J. Katzenstein, Member (2009–10) in the School, were recently announced as American Political Science Association (APSA) award winners.

A recent article in Town Topics highlights a common bond between three of the four Fields Medal winners announced at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians: ties to IAS. Drawing on an interview with Director and Leon Levy Professor David Nirenberg, the article goes on to emphasize the unparalleled research conditions at IAS that foster this level of excellence. 

Three of the four winners of this year’s Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize of Mathematics, are affiliated with the Institute's School of Mathematics: Jacob Tsimerman, Ashvin B. Chhabra and Daniela Bonafede-Chhabra Member and Distinguished Visiting Professor; Hong Wang, Member (2019–21); and John Pardon, Visitor (2016–17). With these additions, IAS scholars have now won 49 of the 68 total Fields Medals awarded since 1936.

"Universal mathematician" Akshay Venkatesh, Robert and Luisa Fernholz Professor in the School of Mathematics, has been named alongside Member (1986–87, 1992–3) Ruth Charney and Member (2007–08) Catharina Stroppel as an honorary member of the London Mathematical Society (LMS). Three further IAS scholars were announced as recipients of the 2026 LMS Prizes.

On June 30, “pioneering historian” Caroline Walker Bynum, Professor Emerita in the School of Historical Studies, will become one of nine individuals to be awarded an honorary doctorate of Literature from the University of St Andrews. She will be recognized for work that has “transformed the study of medieval Christianity.”

Mor Rozner, Kovner Member (2024–27) in the School of Natural Sciences, is one of three "promising early-career astronomers" to have been awarded a 2026 Gruber Fellowship. The fellowship will support her ongoing exploration of the dynamics of astrophysical environments that are rich in gas, including protoplanetary disks, AGN disks, and gas-rich clusters.

Chinese history and literature expert Hui Wang, Elizabeth and J. Richardson Dilworth Member (2023–24) in the School of Historical Studies, has been awarded a highly prestigious Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei of Italy, which is considered to be “the Italian equivalent of [a] Nobel Prize.”

IBM von Neumann Professor Camillo De Lellis has been announced as a recipient of the 2026 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences for his work on singularities in geometric measure theory and fluid dynamics. Many of his award-winning breakthroughs stem from research De Lellis conducted at IAS, alongside his colleagues in the School of Mathematics.