Things ‘I do not like’ drove me to quit US for Hong Kong: top mathematician Ngo Bao Chau

World-leading Vietnamese mathematician Ngo Bao Chau has said his decision to leave the US was not just the result of the worsening academic environment there, but also a vision to transform Asia into the next global powerhouse for maths and science.“I want Asia to be the next America or the next Europe [as] a place where science and mathematics strive,” he said in an interview on the university’s campus.“I believe that Asia and China … have a unique opportunity to grow to be one of the [top] places in science and mathematics. I am really eager to participate in that.”Ngo, who has been teaching at the University of Chicago since 2010, said “many things that I do not like” were happening in the United States.“American universities have been great institutions where knowledge, discovery and scholarship are cherished. It has been like that for 400 years,” he said.