Nancy Kopell

Last updated
Nancy Jane Kopell
Born (1942-11-08) November 8, 1942 (age 81) [1]
New York City [1]
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationPh.D.
Alma mater Cornell University
University of California, Berkeley
Known for Mathematical neuroscience
SpouseGabriel Stolzenberg
Awards Sloan Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
MacArthur Fellowship
Scientific career
Institutions Northeastern University
Boston University
Thesis Commuting diffeomorphisms [2]  (1967)
Doctoral advisor Stephen Smale
Website math.bu.edu/people/nk/

Nancy Jane Kopell (born November 8, 1942, New York City) is an American mathematician and professor at Boston University. She is co-director of the Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology (CompNet). She organized and directs the Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative (CRC). Kopell received her B.A. from Cornell University in 1963 and her Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1967. She held visiting positions at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France (1970), MIT (1975, 1976–1977), and the California Institute of Technology (1976).

Contents

The focus of her research is the field of applied biomathematics and includes use of mathematical models to analyze the physiological mechanisms of brain dynamics. The techniques Kopell uses include extensions of invariant manifold theory, averaging theory, and geometric methods for singularly perturbed equations. From the peak of her career in 1990, she has contributed to over 200 published research articles in the field of biomathematics. Her current interests include topics such as: how does the brain produce its dynamics (physiological mechanisms), how do brain rhythms take part in cognition (sensory processing, attention, memory, motor control), and how can pathologies of brain dynamics help to understand symptoms of neurological diseases (Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, epilepsy) as well as altered states of consciousness (anesthesia). She collaborates widely with experimentalists and clinicians in order to conduct research on these topics. [3]

Kopell is a 1990 MacArthur Fellow.

Biography

Early life and education

Kopell was born on November 8, 1942, and grew up on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. Her father was an accountant and her mother and older sister also majored in mathematics. [4] As a child, she had a severe eye problem which taught her how to cope with being "different." This ability to cope would help her successfully deal with feelings of marginalization she would later experience as a female scientist. She attributes her professional success to this ability as well as the support she received from mentors throughout her career. Her high school teachers encouraged her to go into the mathematics field. [5]

During her undergraduate education at Cornell University, she registered for a mathematics honors program, and was the only female participant. [5] Kopell graduated from Cornell with an A.B. in 1963. [6]

She then decided to attend graduate school in order to "find an alternative to the more traditional life her family expected for her." [5] Kopell originally applied to programs on the East Coast and was admitted to all of them except for one; however, after being encouraged by another student, she chose to attend school on the West Coast instead. [5] She was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley, with a fellowship and graduated with an M.A. and a Ph.D. in 1967. [6] At Berkeley, she did well on her exams and was known as the "bright female." [5] However, she struggled in the early stages of her dissertation work and switched supervisors to Stephen Smale. [5] Smale suggested a problem which Kopell almost singlehandedly solved, leading to her thesis in the field of dynamical systems which catapulted her career. [5]

Academic career

After completing her graduate education, Kopell accepted an instructorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [5] There, she met collaborator Lou Howard, with whom she published several articles. She later met her husband, Gabriel Stolzenberg, at Northeastern University. [5]

While Kopell did her thesis work in theoretical mathematics, she later switched to applied mathematics.

In 1969, she joined Northeastern University as faculty, becoming a full professor in 1978. In 1986, she became a professor of mathematics at Boston University and in 2009 she became the first woman at Boston University to be named a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor. [7] [8] She was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1990 for her work developing methods of dynamical systems to attack problems of applied mathematics. [8] She is currently Director and Co-Founder of the Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative, which consists of a group of over two dozen labs, mostly in the Boston Area, working on brain dynamics and their cognitive implications. She is also Co-Director of the Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology (CompNet). [9] [10]

Kopell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was recently selected to be an honorary member of the London Mathematical Society, a distinction given to one or two mathematicians per year worldwide. She has been awarded Sloan Guggenheim, and McArthur Fellowships, and has an honorary Ph.D. from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She has given the Weldon Memorial Prize Lecture (Oxford), the von Neumann Lecture, and the Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecture (AMS), as well as multiple other named lectureships. [3]

Honors and memberships

Selected publications

Prestigious lectures given

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Morrow, Charlene; Perl, Teri, eds. (1998). Notable women in mathematics: a biographical dictionary . Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp.  98–101. ISBN   978-0313291319.
  2. ↑ "Nancy Kopell". Biographies of Women Mathematicians. Agnes Scott College.
  3. 1 2 "Nancy Kopell". math.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  4. ↑ Kivelson, Pamela Davis. "Nancy Kopell". ThePosterProject: Biographies. Stony Brook University Mathematics Department and Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wasserman, Elga (2000). The Door in the Dream: Conversations with Eminent Women in Science. Joseph Henry Press.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Nancy Kopell: Oscillators and Networks of Them: Which Differences Make a Difference". Profiles of Women in Mathematics: The Emmy Noether Lectures. Association for Women in Mathematics. 1992. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Rolbein, Seth (25 June 2009). "Two More Warren Distinguished Professors Announced". BU Today. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Nancy Kopell". www.agnesscott.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  9. ↑ "Nancy Kopell". Mathematics Department. Boston University. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "People: Faculty". Cognitive Rhythms Collaborative. Boston University. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Nancy Kopell". Fellows. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Nancy Kopell". MacArthur Fellows / Meet the Class of 1990. MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Nancy Kopell". Member Directory. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Professor Nancy Jane Kopell". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectures". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Weldon Memorial Prize: Past Prize-winners" (PDF). Oxford University Statistics. Oxford University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  17. ↑ "The John von Neumann Lecture". Prizes and recognitions. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  18. ↑ SIAM Fellows class of 2009
  19. ↑ "London Mathematical Society Honorary Members" (PDF). Membership. London Mathematical Society. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "Jürgen Moser Lecture". Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics . Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  21. ↑ Rimer, Sara (10 April 2015). "Kopell Wins Israeli Nonprofit's Mathematical Neuroscience Prize". BU Today. Boston University. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  22. ↑ 2016 Class of the Fellows of the AMS, American Mathematical Society , retrieved 2015-11-16.

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