IHES visiting New York

From October 27 to 31, IHES travelled to New York for a series of major institutional events, including the Friends of IHES 2025 Gala at the Plaza Hotel.

On October 28, Thibault Damour, Permanent Professor of Physics Emeritus at IHES, was promoted Officier de la légion d’honneur by his longtime friend Jean Reno at the Consulate General of France in New York, in recognition of his exceptional career and contributions to general relativity and astrophysics.

That same day, at New York’s prestigious Plaza Hotel, Friends of IHES held its biannual Gala themed “Cinema & Mathematics”.

Hosted by Tracy Day and Brian Greene, co-founders of the World Science Festival, the evening offered a unique moment at the crossroads of cinema and science. Nobel Prize–winning physicist Kip Thorne spoke about his role as scientific advisor and executive producer of Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar. Matthew Brown — Director of The Man Who Knew Infinity, a biopic on the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan — then engaged in a discussion with Hugo Duminil-Copin, Permanent Professor at IHES and Fields Medal laureate, about the deep and often unexpected links between cinema and mathematics.

The evening was also an opportunity to celebrate the appointment of Hong Wang as a Permanent Professor of Mathematics at IHES, in a joint position with New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences — a remarkable example of Franco-American scientific collaboration and an inspiration for women in science.

Among the Gala’s distinguished guests were H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco; Cédrik Fouriscot, Consul General of France in New York; Marilyn Simons, co-founder of the Simons Foundation and President of Friends of IHES; José Placido, CEO of BNP Paribas USA and CIB Americas; Pierre Deligne, Fields Medal and Abel Prize laureate, Former Permanent Professor at IHES; Dennis Sullivan, Abel Prize laureate and Former Professor at IHES; Gérard Ben Arous, Director of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and holder of the Alexzandria Figueroa and Robert Penner Chair at IHES; Stéphane Mallat, CNRS Gold Medal laureate; Thibault Damour, Emeritus Permanent Professor of physics at IHES and CNRS Gold Medal laureate; as well as all members of the Friends of IHES Board of Directors.

IHES extends its heartfelt thanks to Friends of IHES for organizing this event and for bringing together its partners, donors, sponsors, and guests. Thanks to their dedication, the evening succeeded in raising more than 1.3 million dollars in support of fundamental research in mathematics and theoretical physics.

The following day, over 200 high school students gathered at the Lycée Français de New York to attend a lecture by Hugo Duminil-Copin entitled “Can We Really Understand by Counting?”

The event offered students a unique opportunity to explore how mathematics deepens our understanding of the world and to engage directly with a Fields Medal laureate.

Later in the week, Delaram Kahrobaei—mathematician, professor at Queens College, and member of the Friends of IHES board—welcomed friends and supporters of the Institute for an intimate evening dedicated to academic freedom on Thursday, October 30. IHES warmly thanks her for hosting this gathering in a more personal setting alongside the Gala.

Altogether, this remarkable week in New York underscored IHES’s commitment to scientific outreach and its ongoing efforts to foster international dialogue and collaboration.