Hannah Fry is Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP). She joined the University of Cambridge in January 2025, becoming the first person ever to hold the role.

As a broadcaster, author, podcaster and social media star she is one of the UK and world's most recognisable – and favourite – communicators of mathematics and science. The citation for the Leelavati Prize outlines her extraordinary impact: 

"Hannah Fry is one of the foremost global ambassadors for mathematical thinking," the prize citation says. "She has become a voice for mathematics that resonates far beyond the public audience normally interested in science communication.

"Through a wide range of media — including books, videos, and television programs — she has used outstanding creativity and originality to translate mathematics into a language of wonder and relevance for the public without diminishing its scope and importance." 

"When you enjoy [maths] yourself, I think you have first hand experience of just the absolute joy of it," says Hannah Fry about her passion for communicating mathematics. "I feel as though there are these wonderful secrets that are completely invisible to almost everybody in the world who are not mathematicians, and it doesn’t make sense to me we would keep them to ourselves — I feel as though I have this really good bit of gossip that I just want to share."

A language of wonder

The Leelavati Prize, recognising outstanding contributions to increasing the public awareness of mathematics, is awarded every 4 years by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), and is announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). Bringing together thousands of mathematicians from around the world, the ICM celebrates the diversity and scope of modern mathematics. It also attracts significant attention as the setting for the announcement of some of the subject's most celebrated awards, including the famous Fields Medals.

The Leelavati Prize is the latest of many honours and awards – across both academia and the mainstream media – recognising Hannah Fry's exceptional work in public communication and engagement. As well as academic recognition including the Christopher Zeeman Medal in 2018 and the Royal Society’s David Attenborough Award in 2024, her major media awards include winning an Emmy in 2025 for an episode exploring quantum computing in the TV series The Future with Hannah Fry, and a Webby Award in 2026 for the podcast The Rest is Science, co-presented with Michael Stevens. With over 2 million followers on Instagram, she has also been named by Time as one of the 100 most influential digital creators of 2026. 

Fry shares the inspiration with the next generation of mathematicians too. In 2019 her televised Ri Christmas Lectures were filmed in front of audiences of hundreds of school children. Even closer to home, earlier this term she gave the annual Rouse Ball lecture to a packed audience of Cambridge students, followed by mathematics communication workshops for current undergraduates.

"Mathematics quietly underpins so many aspects of modern life and the importance of communicating mathematical ideas to the public has never been greater. Few people have contributed more to this goal than Hannah Fry," says Professor Nick Dorey, Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

Mathematics is "a completely original way to see the world," says Hannah Fry. "And I think that in the same way as with anything in life where you really enjoy it, I just want to talk to people about it."

As Fry says, the limit to someone's understanding is never their ability to understand. The limit is always in their motivation to care. And she sees her role as being to provide that motivation.

"I think what you need to do," she says about the key to connecting with a wide audience, "is to create a hole in people’s imagination. If I can create just a moment where you want to know the next bit – you know exactly the size and shape it needs to be to fulfil your craving for that exact piece of information – then everybody's in."

Listen to this podcast interview with Hannah Fry about winning the Leelavati Prize, and discover more coverage of the full ICM 2026, on our Plus outreach platform.

Image: Professor Hannah Fry speaking at the Communicating Mathematical and Data Sciences event at the Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge. Image credit: Grace Merton/INI