Internationally Renowned Mathematician Professor Van H. Vu Joins HKU

The Department of Mathematics at The University of Hong Kong has welcomed Professor Van Ha VU, a world-leading mathematician whose research has shaped modern combinatorics, probability, and random matrix theory.

Professor Vu received his PhD from Yale University in 1998 and was previously a full professor there. Before that, he held academic positions at the University of California, San Diego and Rutgers University.

He is internationally recognised for solving several landmark problems in mathematics, including the Erdős–Folkman problem in number theory with Endre Szemerédi, the Shamir conjecture in random graph theory with Anders Johansson and Jeff Kahn, and together with Terence Tao, the circular law conjecture and four-moment theorem in random matrix theory.

Random matrix theory plays a foundational role in quantum physics, complex systems, and artificial intelligence, where large random matrices are used to model quantum behaviour, analyse massive datasets, and understand the stability and performance of modern algorithms. Professor Vu’s work has helped establish the theoretical framework underlying these calculations.

His honours include the George Pólya Prize in 2008, the Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize in 2012,  and an invitation to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2014, reflecting his standing among the world’s leading mathematicians.

At HKU, Professor Vu will further strengthen the University’s research capacity in pure and applied mathematics, foster international collaboration, and contribute to the training of the next generation of mathematical scientists at a time when deep theoretical insight is increasingly vital to science and technology.