China's 'Goddess of Mathematics' criticized for being too beautiful

Just because of her outstanding appearance and not being a "nerd", Kate Wenqi Zhu was doubted about her master's degree and the international mathematics prize she won.

Kate Wenqi Zhu, a PhD student at the University of Oxford (UK), has just won second prize at the 2025 Leslie Fox Prize - one of the world's most prestigious awards for young mathematicians. However, after this proud achievement, she once again became the center of attention with both praise and doubts about her ability because she is "too pretty", according to Shanghai Daily.

Over the years, with his own efforts, Zhu has contributed to redefining the image of "math prodigies": they do not necessarily have to be reserved, simple or sloppy as people think.

Zhu graduated with a master's degree from Oxford University.

From bullied girl to Oxford graduate student

Born in Shenzhen, China, Kate Wenqi Zhu was a victim of school bullying. After taking a break to recover, she dropped out of school. Zhu’s mother, who was an outstanding student in the Talented Youth Program at the University of Science and Technology of China, decided to quit her job to homeschool her. Her father was a PhD in Computer Science at the time.

Over the course of two years, Zhu's parents incorporated math into games, meals and daily conversations, helping her absorb the equivalent of six years of high school.

At the age of 12, without a primary or secondary school diploma, Zhu was accepted into Shenzhen International School. Three years later, she became the youngest Chinese female student to study mathematics at Oxford University.

Math makes Zhu feel happy when she wants to cry.

After graduating in 2011, Zhu entered the financial industry in Hong Kong (China) and worked for JPMorgan with a salary of millions of yuan per year. However, the stressful job did not bring happiness.

“I cried every day after work. I kept asking myself, is this the life I want?” Zhu recalled.

After being diagnosed with depression, she decided to return to Mathematics, which brought her a sense of peace. “Every time I wanted to cry, I turned to Mathematics. Solving a problem made me feel better,” she shared.

Zhu eventually left his job in finance and returned to Oxford University to pursue a master's degree, then a doctorate.

Criticized for being "out of line"

In March 2022, Zhu shared a video of her graduation as valedictorian of her Mathematics major on Weibo. The video quickly reached more than 1.2 billion views. However, along with the attention, she also faced a wave of criticism.

Many people, including some professors and representatives of educational institutions, questioned Zhu's ability simply because of his outstanding appearance and frequent posting of photos of him dining out and enjoying a "luxurious" life on social media.

It was not until Zhu correctly solved a problem given by a male professor to "verify" that the wave of attacks subsided.

“I don't do it to prove myself right. I do it out of respect for Mathematics,” she asserted.

Zhu shares his daily life on social media platform Weibo.

The incident made Zhu realize that women in science, especially when young and attractive, are more susceptible to skepticism.

But instead of staying silent, she continued to share her personal life through vlogs and maintained her point of view: “I love wealth and love Mathematics even more. I believe I can do finance while pursuing my pure passion.”

Zhu's efforts were a testament to his efforts, becoming the only Chinese winner of the Leslie Fox Prize - a prestigious international award for young mathematicians under the age of 31 - earlier this year.

She is currently a PhD student at Oxford, on a full scholarship, and is about to begin a two-year postdoctoral program. Two of her papers have been published in Mathematical Programming, one of the leading journals in the field of mathematical optimization.

Although her current income is much lower than when she worked in finance, Zhu doesn’t mind. “The goal is not to make a lot of money every year, but to become the person I want to be in 30 or 50 years,” she added.

Zhu also cherishes the plan to return to China to contribute to mathematics research and education. For her, mathematics has never left her. And now, she wants to use mathematics to give back to life.

(Source: Zing News)

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