Stanford mathematician Otis Chodosh wins New Horizons Prize

Mathematics is not known for its glamour, but the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, which celebrates scientists like celebrities, recently shone a spotlight on the work of Stanford mathematician Otis Chodosh with the 2026 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize.

The prize comes with a $100,000 award and seeks to elevate researchers who have had major accomplishments at the start of their careers. Chodosh was recognized for settling several long-standing questions that have been studied for more than 50 years in the field of differential geometry, the mathematical study of smooth shapes, curves, and surfaces.

“I was surprised and honored to win this award, but I am also really happy that the field is receiving recognition, especially at this time when pure mathematics is at risk,” said Chodosh, associate professor of mathematics in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

The study of abstract theoretical concepts and shapes, pure mathematics struggles to get the same kind of attention that applied mathematics does, especially in an era hyper focused on work related to artificial intelligence or quantum computing. Chodosh said while those areas are worthy of funding, pure mathematics also brings a lot of value in the long term that might not be immediately apparent.

Chodosh is a geometric analyst or a Riemannian geometer—put simply, this means he studies how things curve or bend. There are many shapes and structures in the universe that have unusual curvature, including space-time itself. The implications and big-picture consequences of this curvature is often not well-understood, and mathematicians have been working for many years to better comprehend these problems.

For his part, Chodosh is particularly focused on the kind of objects that have interesting properties in the way they bend in three dimensions and beyond. The New Horizons Prize specifically called out his work with Columbia mathematician Chao Li to prove a central conjecture concerning a broad class of higher-dimensional spaces known as “aspherical manifolds.” 

Also, together with Rice University mathematician Christos Mantoulidis, Chodosh resolved a key problem in the geometric analysis of minimal surfaces. An example of a minimal surface is the shape that occurs when a wire loop is dipped in soapy water: No matter how the wire is stretched or twisted the surface tension of the soap film will work to minimize the area it covers. 

While he is proud to receive this prize, Chodosh wanted to be sure to acknowledge the many people who helped contribute to the achievement. 

“It kind of cuts against some of the stereotype, but mathematics is a very social activity in some ways,” Chodosh said. “I’m grateful to have many smart collaborators and mentors who have supported me.”

He also noted that Stanford has a long legacy with the field of geometric analysis and Breakthrough prizes, including his Stanford doctoral adviser, Simon Brendle, now at Columbia University, who won the Breakthrough Prize in 2024. 

The legacy also includes the person who informed Chodosh that he had won this year: Richard Taylor, professor of mathematics and the Barbara Kimball Browning Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Taylor won the Breakthrough Prize in 2015, the very first year it was given. 

 The Breakthrough Prize Foundation was co-founded by Sergey Brin; Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg; Julia and Yuri Milner; and Anne Wojcicki. This year, the foundation awarded six Breakthrough Prizes of $3 million each and recognized 15 early-career physicists and mathematicians with New Horizons Prizes. The foundation also awarded Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes, named after the late Stanford professor, to three women mathematicians who recently completed their doctorates.

Sara Zaske, School of Humanities and Sciences, 510-872-0340, szaske [at] stanford [dot] edu (szaske[at]stanford[dot]edu)