Vaughan Jones (31 December 1952 – 6 September 2020) was a New Zealand mathematician known for his work on von Neumann algebras and knot polynomials. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1990.

On September 6, 2020, Fields Medal winner and math master Professor Vaughan Jones died at the age of 67 from an ear infection in Nashville, USA. We were all shocked and heart-struck by this news. Professor Jones was invited by Professor Shing-Tung Yau to visit Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum (TSIMF) multiple times, and his imprint remained in all of the TSIMF staff.

From 23-26 December, 2010, the "Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum" initiated by Professor Shing-Tung Yau (a mathematics master) was held in Tianyu Hotel in Yalong Bay, Sanya City. The first edition of the Mathematical Conference, Professor Jones and Nobel Laureate in Physics, Professor David Jonathan Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor Benedict Gross of Harvard University, Robbert Dijkgraaf, President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor HirosiOogur of California Institute of Technology and other famous scholars were invited to the conference together and participated in this crucial international mathematics conference. During the conference, like most of the participating mathematicians, they put on the distinctive Hainan "island clothes".

Professor Vaughan Jones (front row, first from the left)

The first trip to Sanya obviously made a good impression on Professor Jones. From 19-23 December, 2016, Professor Jones was invited to Sanya for the second time, when the TSIMF was fully established. He participated in the 7th Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum. He also personally moderated a sub-forum on "Mathematical Physics and Subfactor Problems" (Subfactors and Mathematical Physics: Vaughan Jones) during this period.

During this time, our colleagues had the opportunity to have more contact with Professor Jones, who made a deep impression on us with his burly body, approachable personality and distinctive scholarly demeanor.

Professor Jones took a group photo with the scholars (front row, second from the left)

Professor Jones on the podium of the 7th Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum

In the break time, we took an opportunity to interview Professor Jones and asked him to sign his own books in the "Special Collection of Fields Medal Winners" in the TSIMF Library.

Professor Jones was interviewed by TSIMF staff

Professor Jones signed his own book in TSIMF Library

What left the deepest impression on us was the distinctive style with which Professor Jones was immersed in the realm of mathematics. During the conference, he always wore a pair of slippers in the TSIMF Park, walking between the conference building, the restaurant and the dormitory. The most special thing is that once on the podium of the large lecture hall, he took off his shoes and continued his speech while walking around with bare feet. This scene is still in the mind of the staff from time to time until now.

Professor Jones presented a talk with his barefoot in the Lecture Hall.

During the conference, the organizer arranged an activity for Professor Jones to plant a fruit tree in the "Mathematics Masters Garden" as a souvenir. Professor Jones was very happy to learn about this. He carefully plowed soil and watered the sapodilla tree, and took a group photo in front of the tree with the participants. Today, the sapodilla tree planted by Professor Jones is thriving and bearing a lot of fruit. Professor Jones would be very thrilled to see the fruit tree he planted with his own hands in heaven.

The fruit tree that Professor Jones planted in the “Masters Garden ”is now lush and full of fruit.

In May 2018, the portraits of all 60 Fields Medal winners (till 2022) were hung side by side in the conference lobby, and the portrait of Professor Jones, who won the Fields Medal in 1990, was also in the middle. Professor Jones not only left his imprint in the heart of TSIMF staff, but also in the TSIMF forever.

Portrait of Professor Jones hanging in the conference hall.

Editor: HE Shouxi

                                                                                            Translation:WU Xianying

                                                                                            Revised by: GAO Xuan

                                                                                            December 2020