Rachel Levy (born 1968) [1] is an American mathematician and blogger. She currently serves as the inaugural Executive Director [2] of the North Carolina State University Data Science Academy [3] . She was a 2020-21 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow [4] , serving in the United States Senate and sponsored by the American Mathematical Society. From 2018-2020 she served as deputy executive director of the Mathematical Association of America(2018-2020). [5] As a faculty member at Harvey Mudd College from 2007-2019 her research was in applied mathematics, including the mathematical modeling of thin films, and the applications of fluid mechanics to biology. [6] [7] This work was funded by The National Science Foundation, Research Corporation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and US Office of Naval Research [8] .
She now focuses on mathematics education, data science, and undergraduate mathematics research. She served as vice president for education of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), [9] and as editor-in-chief of SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO), an online publication of SIAM for undergraduate research in applied mathematics. [10] [11]
She currently serves on the following advisory boards:
She was a co-founder of the BIG Math Network [16] and the Math Modeling Hub. [17]
She coined the acronym VITAL [18] for faculty who are visitors, instructors, TAs, adjuncts and lecturers.
Levy did her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College, completing a double major in English and Mathematics in 1989. She then earned a master's degree in Educational Media and Instructional Design in 1996 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, another master's degree in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University, and a PhD in 2005 from North Carolina State University. [6] [8] Her dissertation, Partial differential equations of thin liquid films: analysis and numerical simulation, was supervised by Michael Shearer. [8] [19]
She taught mathematics to secondary school and beginning college students from the time she was an undergraduate until her return to graduate school. After postdoctoral research at Duke University, she joined the Harvey Mudd College faculty from 2007 to 2019. [6] [8] At Harvey Mudd College, she was promoted to Professor of Mathematics and served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development. She was the Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor from 2011 to 2012. [8]
Levy co-authored Math Modelling: Computing and Communicating, a practical handbook for high school students with experience with computation and an interest in math modelling. (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2018) [20]
With Richard Laugesen and Fadil Santosa, Levy is the author of a book for mathematical scientists seeking work, BIG Jobs Guide: business, industry, and government careers for mathematical scientists, statisticians, and operations researchers (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2018) [21]
She is the lead author of the early grade section of the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Mathematical Modeling Education (GAIMME) Report (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP, 2018) [22]
With Michael Shearer, Levy is the author of a textbook on partial differential equations, Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction to Theory and Applications (Princeton University Press, 2015). [23]
Levy's research in applied mathematics has included work on surfactants, miniature robotic submarines, and flukeprints, the tracks left by whales on the surface of the ocean. [7] [24] She has also studied the use of flipped classrooms in undergraduate education. [7] [25]
She created a blog, Grandma Got STEM, about earlier generations of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] and currently blogs for MAA MathValues.
The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists; statisticians; and many others in academia, government, business, and industry.
William Gilbert Strang is an American mathematician known for his contributions to finite element theory, the calculus of variations, wavelet analysis and linear algebra. He has made many contributions to mathematics education, including publishing mathematics textbooks. Strang was the MathWorks Professor of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught Linear Algebra, Computational Science, and Engineering, Learning from Data, and his lectures are freely available through MIT OpenCourseWare.
Maria Margaret Klawe is a computer scientist and served as the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023. Born in Toronto in 1951, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009. She was previously Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University. She is known for her advocacy for women in STEM fields.
The Etta Z. Falconer Lecture is an award and lecture series which honors "women who have made distinguished contributions to the mathematical sciences or mathematics education". It is sponsored by the Association for Women in Mathematics and the Mathematical Association of America. The lectures began in 1996 and were named after the mathematician Etta Z. Falconer in 2004 "in memory of Falconer's profound vision and accomplishments in enhancing the movement of minorities and women into scientific careers". The recipient presents the lecture at MathFest each summer.
Susanne Cecelia Brenner is an American mathematician, whose research concerns the finite element method and related techniques for the numerical solution of differential equations. She is a Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University. Previously, she held the Nicholson Professorship of Mathematics and the Michael F. and Roberta Nesbit McDonald Professorship at Louisiana State University, She currently chairs the editorial committee of the journal Mathematics of Computation. During 2021-2022 she is serving as President of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Suzanne Marie Lenhart is an American mathematician who works in partial differential equations, optimal control and mathematical biology. She is a Chancellor's Professor of mathematics at the University of Tennessee, an associate director for education and outreach at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, and a part-time researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Trachette Levon Jackson is an American mathematician who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan and is known for work in mathematical oncology. She uses many different approaches, including continuous and discrete mathematical models, numerical simulations, and experiments to study tumor growth and treatment. Specifically, her lab is interested in "molecular pathways associated with intratumoral angiogenesis," "cell-tissue interactions associated with tumor-induced angiogenesis," and "tumor heterogeneity and cancer stem cells."
Lisette G. de Pillis is an American mathematician at Harvey Mudd College and holds the Norman F. Sprague, Jr. Professorship of Life Sciences at Harvey Mudd. She chaired the Department of Mathematics in 2008-2009 and again from 2014 to 2019. She directed the Harvey Mudd College Global Clinic program from 2009 to 2014. She is also the co-director of the Harvey Mudd College Center for Quantitative Life Sciences.
Talithia D. Williams is an American statistician and mathematician at Harvey Mudd College who researches the spatiotemporal structure of data. She was the first black woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College. Williams is an advocate for engaging more African Americans in engineering and science.
Suzanne L. Weekes is the Executive Director of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. She is also Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). She is a co-founder of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Undergraduate Program.
Karen Saxe is an American mathematician who specializes in functional analysis, and in the mathematical study of issues related to social justice. She is DeWitt Wallace Professor of Mathematics, Emerita at Macalester College,. She is Associate Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society and Director of its Office of Government Relations, based in Washington DC.
Grandma Got STEM is a blog by Rachel Levy, a mathematician at Harvey Mudd College, about earlier generations of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Levy founded the blog in March 2013, and by June 2013 had already accumulated 100 posts to it.
Lesley Ann Ward is an Australian mathematician specializing in harmonic analysis, complex analysis, and industrial applications of mathematics. She is a professor in the School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences of the University of South Australia, director of the Mathematics Clinic at the university, and former chair of the Women in Mathematics Group of the Australian Mathematical Society.
Mary Lister McCammon was a British mathematician and professor at Pennsylvania State University. She was the first woman to complete a doctoral degree in mathematics at Imperial College London, which she did in 1953.
Jennifer Switkes is a Canadian-American applied mathematician interested in mathematical modeling and operations research, and also known for her volunteer work teaching mathematics in prisons. She is an associate professor of mathematics at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she is associate chair of the mathematics department.
Sharon J. Gerbode is a soft matter physicist and the Iris and Howard Critchell Associate Professor of Physics at Harvey Mudd College. She is recognized for her contributions to the fields of soft matter and biomechanics and is a 2016 Cottrell Scholar, a distinction given to top early career academic scientists by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA).
Karen M. Bliss is an American applied mathematician currently at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia who specializes in biomedical applications and materials science. She has co-authored many modeling handbooks, most notably, Math Modeling: Getting Started and Getting Solutions, for Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in 2014 which is used by teachers and students learning the basics along with those participating in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling.
Carrie Diaz Eaton is an associate professor of digital and computational studies at Bates College, a co-founder of QUBES, and project director for Math Mamas. Diaz Eaton is a 1st generation Latina of Peruvian descent and is also known for her work in social justice in STEM higher education.
Bonita Valerie Saunders is an American mathematician specializing in mathematical visualization. She works at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division of the Information Technology Laboratory, where she contributes to the Digital Library of Mathematical Functions as the Visualization Editor and the principal designer of visualizations and graphs.
The Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching is a national award established in 2003 by the Mathematical Association of America. The award is presented to beginning college or university mathematics faculty members to recognize success and effectiveness in undergraduate mathematics education, as well as an impact that extends beyond the faculty member's own classroom. Up to three college or university teachers are recognized each year, receiving a $1,000 award and a certificate of recognition from the MAA.
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