Math Newsletter
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Bryn Mawr Math Alumnae Newsletter Fall 2015 - Spring 2016 Welcome to this year's roundup of news from the Bryn Mawr Math Department. We have articles contributed by students in Lisa Traynor's Senior Conference, photos shared by mathematics faculty and graduate stu- dents, and much more. We hope you enjoy it! Helen Grundman Announces Retirement Amy N. Myers After 25 years of service at the College, Profes- and insisted on a high level of rigor in all her courses. sor Helen Grundman has announced that the spring Erica Graham '04 recalls the Transition to Higher semester of 2016 will be her last. From here she moves Mathematics course that she took from Helen: to the American Mathematical Society (AMS) as the new Director of Education and Diversity. Along with I was in Helen's Transitions class dur- a change in position comes a move to AMS headquar- ing the second semester of my first year ters in Providence, Rhode Island. Helen is \psyched" at Bryn Mawr. What I remember most for her new position and for the \potential it has about that class was how hard I worked for significantly improving the diversity in advanced for it and how much I had learned by the mathematics." end of the semester. Once or twice during the semester, Helen collected our note- Professor Grundman books to make sure that we were \read- leaves behind a wealth ing" the text/course notes properly, i.e., of good memories and with pencil and paper at the ready. Upon a legacy of engaging returning my notebook to me, she simply students and inspiring looked at me and asked, \Erica, you're go- them to do their best ing to be a math major, right?" I replied work. President Kim yes, she may have responded with a sim- Cassidy describes her as ple nod of the head or \Good" (that part \committed to making I don't remember), and that was pretty math fun." Many stu- much it. I think the reason I actually re- dents recall good times member this is that I recall how at the be- with Helen at the Dis- ginning of that semester I was really ner- tressing Math Collec- vous about taking two (!) math classes tive or the Mathemat- in one semester. I had always planned ics Shakespeare Read- to be a math major, but this very quick ing Group. At the exchange let me know that I had chosen same time, Helen ex- correctly. Commencement in 2014 1 pected nothing less than the best from students, Professor Leslie Cheng describes Grundman as the \phenomenal teacher" of 1157 students, and Pro- Experiences in Teaching), Association for Women fessor Paul Melvin adds that she is the \quintessential in Mathematics Young Mathematician's Mentorship teacher-scholar." Helen won both the Graduate Fac- Programs, and EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Grad- ulty Mentorship Award from the Bryn Mawr College uate Education). Helen's contributions to mathemat- Graduate School of Arts & Sciences in 2011, and the ics will be recognized with a Special Session in her Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2014. honor at the next Joint Mathematics Meetings. Helen Grudman has contributed much to the Col- lege and to the profession of mathematics during her For evidence of Professor Grundman's commit- time at Bryn Mawr. Provost Mary Osirim describes ment to College traditions, one needs to look no fur- her as an \incredibly productive scholar" with nearly ther than her office in Park. Twenty-four May Day fifty publications. Not only does Helen produce her scrolls adorn the walls{she's only missed one May own research, but she also encourages young math- Day celebration in her 25 years at the College. At ematicians on the way to making their own con- a retirement party hosted by the College, President tributions. She has guided many Bryn Mawr un- Cassidy presented Helen with her very own Bryn dergraduate and graduate students through original Mawr College lantern. Perhaps no other Bryn Mawr research, and served as a mentor for national net- faculty member has ever been more deserving of this works of young people including Project NeXT (New honor. * Math Meets Bio: Erica Graham '04 Joins the Ranks Sarah Moustafa '16, Yaxuan Wen '16, and Vanessa Wang '16 Mawr with a math major, Erica passions and strengths. Having earned a PhD from the Univer- done research in mathematical bi- sity of Utah, and held a postdoc- ology with Professor Victor Don- toral research position at North nay during her senior year at Bryn Carolina State University. Mawr, she decided to apply to PhD programs in that area. At the Prof. Graham was drawn to University of Utah, Prof. Graham mathematical biology because it found magic in thinking mathe- enabled her to \see math in ac- matically about biology, and be- tion." Her dissertation focused came interested in the modeling of on modeling cellular and molecular cellular and molecular physiology. mechanisms in the progression and Her postdoctoral teaching experi- development of type 2 diabetes. ences in Raleigh, North Carolina Erica's postdoctoral work focused convinced her to apply her knowl- on female hormone regulation and 2 edge in academia rather than in- Erica Graham '04 the effects of steroid production in dustry because she enjoyed both the ovaries. She also worked on a research and teaching. As an un- project concerning how blood flow Last September mathematical dergraduate, Erica experienced the affects anticoagulants that prevent biologist Erica Graham '04 joined advantages of a math department clotting. She currently researches the Bryn Mawr mathematics fac- that values both teaching and re- the relationship between sleep and ulty at the rank of Assistant Pro- search. The supportive and dy- diabetes susceptibility. fessor. With her background in namic atmosphere has not changed mathematical biology and math- After graduating from Bryn since she graduated. She is very ematical modeling, Prof. Graham Mawr, Erica spent a few years ex- excited about her new role at Bryn brings exciting new courses and ploring different career paths, and Mawr, and looks forward to in- opportunities for Bryn Mawr stu- found that a graduate degree in troducing students to the world of dents. After graduating from Bryn mathematics could combine her 2Image: www.brynmawr.edu mathematical modeling. she took here as a student. She course in the future. There is some The first course Prof. Graham also taught an elective math course really interesting math intertwined taught at Bryn Mawr was Calcu- called computational modeling in with the field of biology, and Erica lus 2 last fall, which, coinciden- the spring semester. Erica hopes looks forward to sharing her per- tally, was also the first math course to teach a mathematical biology spective. World Record Set On Sunday, April 24, 2016, Professor Victor Donnay oversaw the building of the world's largest Sierpinski Triangle built entirely out of K'NEX pieces{some 30,000! A \pre-build" happened on Merion Green at Bryn Mawr College the previous Thursday. The world record was set at the Wagner Free Institute of Science in Philadelphia as part of the Philly Science Festival. There are beautiful pictures of the event, both at Bryn Mawr and at the Wagner, at the college web site: https://www.brynmawr.edu/news/building-record- breaking-triangle. You can also hear Professor Donnay being interviewed on NPR's The Pulse talking about the event and math education: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/93323-high-failure-rates-spur-universities- to-overhaul-math-class. Nori Cubias '17 (left) and other Bryn Mawr students (right) build a Sierpinski Triangle on Merion Green. 3 Surprise! This spring the math graduate students organized a surprise bridal shower for fellow math graduate student Danielle Smiley. Ms. Smiley entered the Math Function Space expecting a professional development seminar, but she found cake, gifts, and cheering friends instead. Faculty and students (left) attend a surprise bridal shower for math graduate student Danielle Smiley (right). 4 3Images: Amy N. Myers 4Images: Amy N. Myers (left) and Samantha Pezzimenti (right) Memory Lane: Phots Contibutd by Helen Grundman Helen as a May Day worty Wit Eva Goedhart PhD ’15 and Wen Gao AB/MA ’07 at a meetng of te Fibonacci Associaton Wit Jackie Lang AB/MA ’09 and Amanda Hitson AB/MA ’09 folowing teir tesis defenses Study break at te Grundmans: Io Good ’11, Becca Rebhuhn-Glanz AB/MA ’11, and Kerstn Baer ’11, Eva Goedhart PhD Adele Mirbey ’11 ’15, and Laura Hal-Seelig AB ’01 and MA ’04 play Fish at te Joint Meetngs Wit Laura Hal-Seelig AB ’01 and Katerine Engelman AB/MA, ’14 MA ’04 and Juliana Belding ’01 at a Freda Li AB/MA ’14 and “Te meetng of WIN: Women In Numbers Algebra Puppy” Bryn Mawr Hosts Math Conference Leslie Cheng Bryn Mawr's Department of Mathematics hosted the second annual Philadelphia Undergraduate Mathematics Conference on March 19, 2016. This mathematics undergraduate conference series is a collaborative effort of the Mathematics Departments at Bryn Mawr College, La Salle University and Temple University, and has as a goal to provide professional opportunities and exposure to undergraduate students from the Philadelphia area interested in Mathematics. This year's conference featured a plenary talk by William Dunham, Truman Koehler Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Muhlenberg College and Research Associate in Mathematics at Bryn Mawr College; a mini-course on coding theory by Kathryn Haymaker '07, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Villanova; a poster session; undergraduate research presentations including one by Maddie Hanson-Colvin '16; and a professional development session. Conference Photo Highlights: Bill Dunhum presents reciprocal primes5 Katie Haymaker '07 discusses coding theory6 Paula Sun '16 presents her poster7 Zuzana Manhartova '16 with her poster8 5Image: Paola Nogueras 6Image: Paola Nogueras 7Image: Paola Nogueras 8Image: Paola Nogueras A Notable Math Alumna Meredith Cobb '16 You've likely heard a lot about famous alumnae from dent in college, not dedicating herself fully to her stud- Bryn Mawr, but can you name one who went on to work ies until graduate school.