Jennifer Quinn – University of Washington Tacoma, President of the MAA
Solving Mathematical Mysteries
Much as mysteries in fiction consider evidence, find common patterns, and draw logical conclusions to solve crimes, mathematical mysteries are unlocked using the same tools. This talk exposes secrets behind a numerical magic trick, a geometric puzzle, and an unknown quantity to find a fascinating pattern with connections to art, architecture, and nature.
Bio: Jennifer Quinn is President of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and professor of mathematics at the University of Washington Tacoma. She earned her BA, MS, and PhD from Williams College, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin, respectively. She received MAA’s 2007 Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching and a 2006 Beckenbach Book award for Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof, co-authored with Arthur Benjamin. As a combinatorial scholar, Jenny thinks that beautiful proofs are as much art as science. Simplicity, elegance, transparency, and fun should be the driving principles. She strives to bring this same ethic to her classroom, administrative work, and professional service.
Committed to making mathematics accessible, appreciated, and humane especially during the global pandemic, Jenny and the #TacomaMath workgroup of the STEAM Learning network chalked puzzles outdoors and produced Math Around Town Videos to create a culture of love for math in the community. In addition, Jenny began the blog Math in the Time of Corona where she chronicles her experiences on emergency remote teaching of mathematics, maintaining humanity, and building community in isolation. And speaking of community, she hosts virtual social hours to bring MAA members together monthly. Look for announcements on MAA Connect.
Tim Chartier – Davidson College, 2021 MA Distinguished Teaching Award Recipient
Dream Classroom
Think of some of your favorite memories of being in mathematics class. They often capture elements of your dream classroom – as a student and/or teacher. Often, such moments are achieved when the students and professor enter some math groove of togetherness and community. In this talk, we’ll discuss our hopes for the classroom and how to enlarge our dreams so we can potentially increase the frequency of dreams being realized and so a sense of community is shared inclusively. We all play a role in a classroom environment and, as in class, we’ll learn together in this talk.
Bio: Tim Chartier is a professor of mathematics and computer science at Davidson College who specializes in data analytics. He consults with ESPN, the New York Times, the US Olympic Committee and teams in the NBA, NFL and NASCAR. Tim has overseen a sports analytics group that can number nearly 100 student researchers each year; the group supplies analytics to Davidson College sports teams Beyond authoring books such as X Games in Mathematics: Sports Training that Counts!, Tim has worked on Google and Pixar educational initiatives. Tim’s authorship, research, and scholarship have been recognized with national leadership positions in the MAA and multiple awards including an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, The MAA SE Distinguished Teaching Award and the MAA’s Euler Book Award.
Marissa Loving – Georgia Institute of Technology
Surfaces: BIG and small
As a geometric group theorist, my favorite type of manifold is a surface and my favorite way to study surfaces is by considering the mapping class group, which is the collection of symmetries of a surface. In this talk, we will think bigger than your average low-dimensional topologist and consider surfaces of infinite type and their associated “big” mapping class groups.
Bio: Marissa Loving is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow and Hale Assistant Professor in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech. She will be an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin Madison starting Fall 2022.
Marissa’s research interests lie in the study of low dimensional topology and the mapping class group. With others, she helps to organize SUBgroups—small online peer support groups for first-year math grad students as they transition into their graduate careers, the AMS’s paraDIGMS (Diversity in Graduate Mathematical Sciences) initiative, and the Indigenous Mathematicians group.
Marissa recently co-authored an article, “Broadening the Horizons of Teaching and Diversity in Mathematics Departments”, that appeared in the December 2019 issue of the Notices of the AMS as well as an article, “Building equity-minded online programs,” that appeared in the January 2021 issue of the Notices.
Distinguished Lectures for Students
Ally Skinner – Financial Planning and Analysis, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Mathematics in the Manufacturing Industry
I present my journey to choosing Mathematics and a career in the manufacturing industry. Examples are submitted of how Mathematics and Statistics were used in the various roles. These examples extend from responsibilities of an Accounts Receivable & Trade Credit department, to the Data & Analytics department, and finally to the Financial Planning & Analysis department. Future career paths are proposed to suggest other areas in which students could utilize their degree.
Bio: Allison “Ally” Skinner is a 2019 graduate of Belmont University. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics with a minor in Statistics. In April 2019 she joined Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, a building solutions manufacturer, as an Accounts Receivable analyst. Her current position is a Financial Planning & Analysis manager for the Oriented Strand Board (OSB) segment. She is responsible for leading the monthly forecast, annual budgeting process, and operating plan variance analysis. She also provides financial and strategic support to senior management for development, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other special projects. Ally currently resides in Nashville, TN with her husband Matthew and son Devin. In her free time she enjoys traveling, cooking, walking her dogs and taking a nice long nap.
Christian Okitondo – Belmont University, University of Georgia
| How do the skills from studying math play a role in the workplace and lead to different career paths? |
Bio: Christian Okitondo is currently an adjunct professor of statistics at Belmont University. He has previously worked as a Biostatistician for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was in charge of developing analytical plans that applied appropriate statistical methods for autism spectrum disorder research studies. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from La Roche University, master’s in Statistics from Ball State University, and currently pursuing a PhD degree in Epidemiology & Biostatistics with an emphasis in Data Analysis & Modeling at the University of Georgia. His research interest includes clinical and structural determinants of cancer risk. His vision is to become a quantitative scientist who excels in epidemiological methods and applied biostatistics to influence standard of care.