Wei Ho is an American mathematician specializing in

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic function, integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777� ...

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

arithmetic geometry In mathematics, arithmetic geometry is roughly the application of techniques from algebraic geometry to problems in number theory. Arithmetic geometry is centered around Diophantine geometry, the study of rational points of algebraic variety, alg ...

, and

representation theory Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies modules over these abstract algebraic structures. In essen ...

. She is an associate professor of mathematics at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

Education and career

Wei Ho grew up in Wisconsin where she attended

New Berlin West High School New Berlin West Middle/High School is a public middle/high school located in New Berlin, Wisconsin. It is a part of the School District of New Berlin. The school serves grades 7 through 12. The school colors are blue and gold, and the school masc ...

New Berlin, Wisconsin New Berlin () is a city located along the Milwaukee /Waukesha County Border in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. The population was 40,451 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest community in Waukesha County after the cities of Waukesha and ...

. She was raised with a Chinese upbringing. During her middle and high school years, she participated in the Wisconsin Math League, the MATHCOUNTS competition, and the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), the USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). After her freshman year at New Berlin, Ho attended the Young Scholar Summer Program (YSSP) at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

. Her performance on the US National Chemistry Olympiad qualified her for a two-week study camp at the

US Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

in Air Force,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Ho played on the varsity tennis team and played violin in various orchestras while at New Berlin. In 2003, Ho received both Master's and bachelor's degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. While at Harvard, she completed a senior honors thesis entitled ''The Main Conjecture of Iwasawa Theory'' under the supervision of

Noam Elkies Noam David Elkies (born August 25, 1966) is a professor of mathematics at Harvard University. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professor to receive tenure at Harvard. He is also a pianist, chess national master and a chess composer. Ear ...

. After college, Ho won a Harvard Herchel Smith Fellowship in Science, which enabled her to spend a year abroad at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...

, where she completed

Part III of the Mathematical Tripos Part III of the Mathematical Tripos (officially Master of Mathematics/Master of Advanced Study) is a one-year Masters-level taught course in mathematics offered at the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge. It is regarded as one of the ...

with distinction. In 2009, she completed her PhD in mathematics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, under the supervision of

Manjul Bhargava Manjul Bhargava (born 8 August 1974) is a Canadian-American mathematician. He is the Brandon Fradd, Class of 1983, Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, the Stieltjes Professor of Number Theory at Leiden University, and also holds A ...

. She was awarded a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

(NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowship, which enabled her to conduct research at Harvard and Princeton. In 2010, Ho became a Joseph Fels Ritt Assistant Professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Ho joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in 2014 and was promoted to associate professor in 2019.

Recognition

In 1994, at the age of 10, Ho got an 800 on the math portion of the SAT subject test, becoming perhaps the youngest girl to achieve that feat at the time. In 1999, Ho won a Gold Medal while representing the US at the

International Chemistry Olympiad The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an annual academic competition for high school students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads. The first IChO was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1968. The event has been held every year ...

. In 2003, the

Association for Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

selected Ho as a runner-up for the Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman. In that same year, Ho received the Herman Peries Prize for excellent performance in the Mathematical Tripos at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. In 2017, Ho was awarded a

Sloan Research Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 2022 Ho became the director of the Women and Mathematics program at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. She was named to the 2023 class of Fellows of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

, "for contributions to number theory and algebraic geometry, and for service to the mathematical community".

References

External links

* * Wei Ho'
Author profile
at MathSciNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Wei Living people 21st-century American mathematicians Algebraic geometers American academics of Chinese descent American women mathematicians Columbia University faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Harvard University alumni Mathematicians from Wisconsin Number theorists Princeton University alumni Scientists from Wisconsin University of Michigan faculty Year of birth missing (living people)