Shayan Oveis Gharan Wins 2026 IMU Abacus Medal | Quanta Magazine
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A Master of the Traveling Salesperson Problem Finds His Own Path
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Previous: 2026 Fields and Abacus Medals
Amid Life’s Chaos, a Meticulous Mathematician Finds Stability
SERIES
2026 Fields and Abacus Medals
A Master of the Traveling Salesperson Problem Finds His Own Path
By
Ben Brubaker
July 23, 2026
Shayan Oveis Gharan has won the Abacus Medal for using tools from across mathematics to boost the power of algorithms.
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For Shayan Oveis Gharan, progress on hard problems often comes via unexpected detours.
Chona Kasinger for Quanta Magazine
Introduction
By Ben Brubaker
Staff Writer
July 23, 2026
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2026 Fields and Abacus Medals
Abacus Medal
algorithms
computer science
features
graph theory
mathematics
polynomials
probability
profiles
randomness
traveling salesperson problem
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In theoretical computer science, the key to cracking tough problems is finding the right tools. Most researchers gravitate toward tools that match the problems they hope to solve, and some devote entire careers to mastering a few familiar techniques. But Shayan Oveis Gharan, a computer scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, has never been content with the familiar. When he sticks with the same approach for too long, he gets restless.
“I’m not learning anything new,” he said. “I’m just sort of staying where I am.”
Physically as well as intellectually, Oveis Gharan seems to have trouble staying still. Talk to him about his research, and he’ll grow increasingly animated, shifting constantly from one unorthodox position to another — first sitting cross-legged in an armchair, then hugging his knees to his chest, then turning sideways and draping his legs over the armrest.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Oveis Gharan is renowned for his work on the traveling salesperson problem, a notoriously difficult computational problem about roaming from place to place. He’s also made major contributions to a seemingly unrelated subject: understanding the best way to choose randomly from a large collection of mathematical objects. For these efforts and others, Oveis Gharan has received the International Mathematical Union’s Abacus Medal, awarded every four years to a theoretical computer scientist under 40. The award committee cited his use of novel tools from far-flung reaches of mathematics that appear unrelated to computer science. It’s as if a creative carpenter discovered that for some tasks a stethoscope works better than a saw.
“This is what a lot of the brilliant, great researchers do,” said Anna Karlin, a colleague and collaborator of Oveis Gharan’s at the University of Washington. “They connect things that are seemingly disconnected.”
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Oveis Gharan is known for his energy and enthusiasm. “He’s incredibly fun to work with,” said his colleague Anna Karlin. “He’s a believer that you can make progress.”
Chona Kasinger for Quanta Magazine
Researchers who draw connections between disparate fields often cultivate their breadth of knowledge at the expense of deep engagement with any one subject. But not Oveis Gharan. For all his restless energy, he has the patience to sit with hard problems for years and attend to every technical detail of a long and complex proof.
“Shayan can kind of do it all,” said Jonathan Leake, a mathematician at the University of Waterloo who collaborates with Oveis Gharan. “I don’t know how he does it, honestly.”
Restless Optimism
Oveis Gharan’s chosen field of theoretical computer science centers on understanding algorithms, the mathematical procedures that computers use to accomplish specific tasks. Some researchers seek to map the limits of computation, by identifying problems that are too hard for even the cleverest algorithms. Others aim to push the boundaries of what algorithms can do. Oveis Gharan, an optimist at heart, falls squarely in the latter group.
“I’m on the positive side,” he said. “I like to say things are possible.”
Oveis Gharan is slender and sprightly, with unruly black hair and an irrepressible smile. His enthusiasm for his work...