Yau was awarded a Fields Medal in 1982 for his contributions to partial differential equations, to the Calabi conjecture in algebraic geometry, to the positive mass conjecture of general relativity theory, and to real and complex Monge - Ampère equations.
Yau ay iginawad ng isang patlang na medalya sa 1982 para sa kanyang mga kontribusyon sa mga bahagi ng kaugalian equation, sa Calabi haka-haka sa algebraic geometry, sa positive masa haka-haka ng pangkalahatang kapamanggitan teorya, at sa tunay at kumplikadong Monge - Ampère equation.