On May 26, 2025, Nicușor Dan, a two-time International Olympiad (IMO) gold medalist, officially became the seventh President of Romania, marking a significant turning point in the country's modern political history. More than 10 million Romanians voted in the election, with Nicușor Dan receiving nearly 54% of the vote.
Two IMO Gold Medals and a Journey to Politics
Nicușor Daniel Dan was born on December 20, 1969, in Făgăraș, Brașov County, Romania, into a typical Romanian family at the time, with his mother being an accountant and his father a factory worker.
From a young age, Nicușor Dan displayed exceptional talent in mathematics. He won two gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 1987 and 1988, both with a perfect score of 42/42. This achievement not only brought pride to Romania but also affirmed his position in the international mathematical community.
After the IMO, Dan pursued a degree in Mathematics at the University of Bucharest. Graduating in 1992, he moved to France, earning a Master's degree from the École Normale Supérieure and a PhD in Mathematics from the Sorbonne Paris Nord (Paris 13) in 1998.
His doctoral dissertation revolved around Arakelov's theory, a complex field connecting arithmetic and geometry. The work was published in 2002 in the journal Mathematishé Annalen, a Q1 journal.
In the late 1990s, after returning to Romania, Nicușor Dan founded the Bucharest College of Science to train and guide talented students pursuing scientific research. In 2006, he founded the "Save Bucharest" Association (Asociația Salvați Bucureștiul) to fight against illegal construction projects and protect the architectural heritage of the capital.
In 2015, he founded the Save Bucharest Alliance (USB), which later developed into the Save Romania Alliance (USR) in 2016. However, he left the USR in 2017 due to disagreements over participation in the referendum on same-sex marriage.
In 2020, Nicușor Dan was elected Mayor of Bucharest as an independent candidate, focusing on improving infrastructure and increasing transparency in urban management. Despite facing numerous challenges, he was highly regarded for his integrity and effectiveness in his work.
An interesting conversation with Professor Ngo Bao Chau
In an article from 2021, Professor Ngo Bao Chau shared that he studied with Nicușor Dan at the École Normale nearly thirty years earlier. Professor Ngo Bao Chau expressed his admiration for his classmate Nicușor Dan's intellect and revealed that he himself had been lectured by Nicușor.
On May 14, 2024, Professor Ngo Bao Chau posted a photo of himself with the new President of Romania and wrote: "Nicușor Dan won two gold medals with perfect scores at the International Mathematical Olympiad for Romania before going to France to study – where we became close friends. After completing his doctoral thesis, Nicușor returned to Bucharest to work at the Institute of Mathematics..."
From civic activities, Nicușor gradually became more deeply involved in politics and ran for Mayor of Bucharest. He was unsuccessful in his first attempt, but he secured 9% of the vote. He was elected on his second attempt. As Mayor, Nicușor completed the city's wastewater treatment system, renovated the public heating system, and continued to confront real estate "sharks" to maintain the city's appearance...
Last night, we had dinner with his family in the modest apartment he rents in a low-income housing complex.
"I was both surprised and not surprised by his success in politics. Surprised because it is rare for a scientist to succeed in politics – two fields that require very different, sometimes even contradictory, qualities – as can be seen in Villani's case," Professor Ngo Bao Chau shared.
On Nicușor Dan's page, a conversation he had with Professor Ngô Bảo Châu, taken a year ago when the professor was preparing for his re-election as mayor of Bucharest, has been posted. The conversation revealed many interesting aspects of his personality, both mathematically and politically. This video is also available on Nicușor Dan's page.
Nicușor Dan admits he is no longer a professional mathematician, but he previously dedicated half his time to mathematics from around 2008 to 2010. 2010 was the last time he seriously pursued mathematics while in Paris. Even so, mathematics haunted him for a long time: "After that, for a year or two, I even dreamed about mathematics. The problems I had thought about would reappear in my dreams," he shared.
He also enjoyed participating in activities related to mathematics. On one occasion, he was on the committee that set the questions for the Olympiad held in Romania. He also lectured to students preparing for the Olympiad. “One Christmas, I invited the Math Olympiad team to participate and inaugurate the ceremony – I had a great time,” he shared.
The conversation sheds light on the path that led Nicușor Dan into politics. According to him, in 2006, when things at the institute began to stabilize, he planned to "return to doing real mathematics." But at that time, a mayor wanted to build a large building right in the middle of Bucharest's central square. This event triggered a rebellious spirit in the scientist.
He started participating in protests and then founded a civil society organization. Initially, the press paid a lot of attention. But then a new mayor came along, who bribed the press, and he lost his influence. So he started suing the mayor, 400 lawsuits, and won about 200 of them. However, he realized the limitations of the legal path: "But litigation doesn't change much. I've spent too many years on that. So I decided to enter politics," he recounted.
Both Nicușor Dan and Professor Ngo Bao Chau agree that it's impossible to simultaneously excel in mathematics and engage in real politics. "No, that's impossible," Dan asserted. Mathematics demands tranquility, an undisturbed space for thinking, something the turbulent world of politics can hardly provide.
The hardships and pressures of political work were also revealed by the new president through an anecdote. "One Friday night, the city was drowning in debt, I didn't know what to do... I woke up at 4 a.m., tried to remember the content but couldn't, so I drove to the office at 4:30 a.m. to reread it, then went back to sleep," he shared.
Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/chan-dung-thien-tai-toan-hoc-dac-cu-tong-thong-romania-post1543622.html
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