Top mathematician leaves US after 15 years: ‘Many things that I do not like’

Fields Medalist Ngo Bao Chau said his decision to quit the US was rooted in the country’s declining academic culture and the current political climate.

Published on: Mar 18, 2026, 13:33:51 IST

By Sanya Jain

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One of the world’s top mathematicians has decided to leave the United States after 15 years, moving base to Hong Kong instead. Fields Medalist Ngo Bao Chau said his decision to quit the US was rooted in the country’s declining academic culture and the current political climate. He also said he wanted to see Asia transform into the next powerhouse for maths and science.

Fields Medalist Ngo Bao Chau is leaving the US and moving to Hong Kong

In a piece published in the South China Morning Post, Ngo, who has been teaching at the University of Chicago since 2010, said that “many things” he did not like were happening in the US.

Asia as the next power centre

“I want Asia to be the next America or the next Europe [as] a place where science and mathematics strive,” said the 54-year-old in an interview.

“I believe that Asia and China … have a unique opportunity to grow to be one of the [top] places in science and mathematics. I am really eager to participate in that,” added Ngo, who received the prestigious Fields Medal in 2010.

“I really want to be part of the new development of mathematics and science in Asia, and I want Hong Kong to be the connecting dot of Asian mathematics – China, India, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and so on,” he said.

On leaving the US after 15 years

The mathematician cited the political climate of the US as one of the reasons behind his decision to leave the country.

“Many things that I do not like” are happening in the United States, said Ngo, who holds both Vietnamese and French citizenship.

“American universities have been great institutions where knowledge, discovery and scholarship are cherished. It has been like that for 400 years,” he said.

“People are meant to be well-treated regardless of their race as long as they espouse this vision in scholarship and knowledge. But disheartening things have been happening for visas, for students.”

“I would rather be in a place where I don’t have to deal with or to hear about things that I do not like,” added Ngo.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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