Dr. Neena Gupta

#35/100 in #100extraordinarywomen

Call it a geek streak, but Neena would rather spend her evening solving math problems. It is unadulterated passion for the subject that has made this Indian National Science Academy topper who she is today. Dr. Neena Gupta, an Indian math prodigy has proved that sky is the limit for some. After Shakuntala Devi, she has filled the void that was left opened and has made an outstanding achievement in the field of mathematics.

Last year, Neena Gupta of Kolkata became a recipient of the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Young Scientists for solving a math problem, which astonishingly enough, remained open for almost 70 years! The math problem that no one but Neena could solve in decades is called the Zariski Cancellation Conjecture. INSA described her solution as, “one of the best works in Algebraic Geometry in recent years done anywhere.” In addition to the INSA award, she was also awarded the Ramanujan Prize (2014), and the Saraswathi Cowsik Medal (2013) by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Alumni Association.

But Neena is still looking for ‘solutions’. There's so much yet to be learned and explored — and she is absorbed in commutative algebra at the moment. Since what she does is academia driven, she spends her time equally between teaching and research. At the moment she is a full time faculty member at INSA (where, incidentally, she also studied), a visiting faculty member at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, and a visiting scientist at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She credits her dad and husband for where she is today. “Most girls in our community get married right after graduation. But, my dad let me get a PhD despite societal pressure. He never questioned my life choices — and my husband continues to extend the same support.”

But, this is not the end for Neena, who thinks that sky’s the limit as she continues to learn and explore further. At the moment, she has kept herself drowned in commutative algebra. She is a living example for those who are against educating girls. We need to understand that by educating a girl we can eliminate the root cause for many problems, such as poverty, population.

Source: Google Search