July 15, 2017 Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford mathematician and Fields Medal winner, dies Stanford mathematics Professor Maryam Mirzakhani, the first and to-date only female winner of the Fields Medal since its inception in 1936, died Friday, July 14, after a long battle with cancer. Mirzakhani was 40 years old. Stanford mathematics Professor Maryam Mirzakhani, the first and to-date only female winner