The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently announced the election of 120 members and 25 international members "in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research."Two Duke faculty join the ranks of this prestigious organization:Robert Calderbank is Charles S. Sydnor Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and professor of mathematics at Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Pratt School of… read more about Robert Calderbank Elected to The National Academy of Sciences »
Mathematics Professor Tarek Elgindi has been awarded 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship. The new fellows are part of the 101st class of 223 awarded scholars, scientists and creative professionals from the U.S. and Canada chosen from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants based on both prior career achievement and exceptional promise. “Our new class of Guggenheim Fellows is representative of the world’s best thinkers, innovators, and creators in art, science, and scholarship,” said Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and President… read more about Mathematics Professor awarded 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship »
Taylor Moorehead is a senior from Woodstock, Maryland, double majoring in Computer Science and Economics with a minor in Mathematics. In addition to serving as a Trinity Ambassador, she serves as an executive member of Duke Quantitative Finance, social chair of The Cube Entrepreneurship, LLC, and as a tour guide for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. For the past two summers, she worked as a quantitative trader intern in Chicago and Austin. In her free time, she enjoys playing spikeball and attending Duke basketball… read more about Taylor Moorehead '26: A Small Decision That Defined a Duke Experience »
Bradley Bowen is a senior double majoring in Statistical Science and Earth & Climate Science with a minor in Mathematics. In addition to serving as a Trinity Ambassador, he works as a statistics research assistant analyzing chemical mixtures in medical data and he is the vice president of the Duke Actuarial Society. Bowen is also a member of the Duke Chapel Choir and enjoys hiking and attending Duke athletics events. As the academic year draws to a close, we asked Bowen to reflect on his time at Duke, the… read more about Bradley Bowen '26: Finding Interdisciplinary Purpose »
Sarah Wu is a senior from San Diego, California, double majoring in Statistical Science and Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. At Duke, she developed a strong interest in statistics and teaching through her work as a teaching assistant for courses including Introduction to Calculus II and Introduction to Data Science. After graduation, Wu will pursue a Ph.D. in Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As graduation approaches, we asked Wu to reflect on her time at Duke, the experiences… read more about Sarah Wu '26: Discovering a Love for Challenge and Teaching at Duke »
One of Felix Zhu’s most memorable moments at Duke happened early on. During his first year, Zhu and his band, Weekend Therapy, performed for the last day of classes celebration (LDOC), opening for Cafuné, one of his favorite artists. Standing on that stage felt like a high point, even as a first-year student. “It was a huge milestone for me and my bandmates and a huge personal achievement to be on the big stage,” he says. That moment captures something central about Zhu’s four years at Duke: a… read more about Felix Zhu '26: Finding His Rhythm on Stage and in the Classroom »
Duke University undergraduates Daniel Levin, Anushka Peer, Emily Song, and Caroline Zhang have been honored as Barry M. Goldwater Scholars. This prestigious award recognizes accomplished sophomore and junior researchers who plan to pursue careers in the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics. Each Goldwater Scholar receives up to $7,500 annually toward the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board.“Congratulations to Duke’s newest Goldwater Scholars,” Provost Alec D. Gallimore said. “Duke is tremendously… read more about Three Trinity Undergraduates Named 2026 Goldwater Scholars »
Duke student Jasper Svenson started exploring AI agents in the fall of 2025, focusing primarily on their real-world business applications. And with a background in restaurant-focused investment banking—as well as parents who spent their careers in the restaurant industry—he kept coming back to one space: the drive-thru.“After some conversations, I fell onto the drive-thru, which is a spot that I think is going to be very automated over time,” Svenson said.With that in mind, he brought on his classmate Carlos Penzini, a math… read more about Duke Students Build Startup Bringing AI Personalization to Drive-Thrus »
Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 38 faculty and will recognize them in a ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn on May 18.“I am delighted to recognize these faculty members with distinguished professorships,” said President Vincent E. Price. “Their work reflects a deep commitment to excellence in research and education, advancing new ideas and discoveries that benefit society and inspire future generations.”Distinguished professorships honor faculty who are well-established members of the Duke… read more about Seven Trinity Faculty Members Among Duke's New Distinguished Professors »
The Duke team (consisting of the top 3 Duke performers: Akshat Basannavar, Fletch Rydell, and Kai Wang) placed 7th overall among 487 institutions.Kai Wang and Fletch Rydell won Honorable Mention for placing in the top 100 contestants overall among 4329 students.Akshat Basannavar placed in the top 200.Davidson Zhu, Akshar Yeccherla, and Justin Morrill… read more about December Putnam Competition: Duke Highlights »
The Bass Connection team, Duke iGEM: Synthetic Biology for Human Health and Society (Duke iGEM), earned a gold medal at the 2025 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Jamboree for its project RESPIRA: Responsive Engineered Strain for Polymicrobial Infection Recovery in Airways. Students from across Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering comprise the core of Duke iGEM. Cameron Kim, assistant professor of the practice in Biomedical Engineering explains that RESPIRA… read more about Duke iGEM Team Wins Gold at 2025 International Jamboree »
ScholarsThe Judith Deckers Prize honors three Duke faculty members for their excellence in undergraduate education. This award recognizes leaders in their fields who have substantial track records of positively affecting student learning and lives. The three faculty receiving the 2025 Judith Deckers Prize are Lisa Huettel of Pratt, Deondra Rose of Sanford and Sarah Schott of Trinity.“These faculty members’ commitment to the exemplary teaching of our undergraduates plays such an important role in… read more about Congratulations to Sarah Schott on winning Duke's Judith Deckers Prize for undergraduate teaching! »
From an initial pool of just over 5,800 applicants, the highest number of applications in the program’s history, two recent Duke alum and one undergraduate student were among the 150 Schwarzman Scholars chosen from around the world. The Schwarzman Scholars of 2026 include recent alumna Qingyan (Elaine) Zhang of Duke, who completed her studies in December; DKU senior Amanda Niza Gonzalez Mejia; and DKU alumna Yufei Li, who graduated in 2024. read more about Recent Alumnae and Undergrad Named Schwarzman Scholars for Graduate Study in China »
The Judith Deckers Prize honors three Duke faculty members for their excellence in undergraduate education. This award recognizes leaders in their fields who have substantial track records of positively affecting student learning and lives. The three faculty receiving the 2025 Judith Deckers Prize are Lisa Huettel of Pratt, Deondra Rose of Sanford and Sarah Schott of Trinity. read more about Three Faculty Honored with Judith Deckers Prize, Duke’s Undergraduate Teaching Award »
On January 8, Duke mathematician Jonathan Mattingly joined a delegation of 290 educators, students and researchers from the mathematical sciences community on a visit to Capitol Hill, where they met with their congressional representatives and advocated for sustained federal support of mathematics. Organized by the American Mathematical Society, the #MathSciOnTheHill event highlighted the profound impact of mathematics and reinforced the importance of federal investment in research and education across the… read more about Duke Mathematicians Engage Lawmakers in Washington to Champion STEM Investment »
An interdisciplinary team of Duke faculty is among the international recipients of a new grant from the Schmidt Sciences Humanities and Artificial Intelligence Virtual Institute (HAVI), a program designed to bridge the gap between AI technology and humanistic inquiry. Led by Martin Fischer, Research Professor of Chemistry and Physics; Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin, Assistant Professor of Mathematics from Bar-Ilan University (formerly of Duke); and John K. Delaney, from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the project… read more about Duke Researchers Awarded Grant to Reveal Hidden Histories of Artworks Through AI and Imaging »
The Duke University Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) student chapter has recently been recognized by the national AWM organization for hosting three virtual math competitions designed specifically for middle school girls. This initiative was inspired by mathematician Po-Shen Loh's visit to Duke, where he emphasized the importance of engaging young students with mathematics in ways that are joyful, accessible, and adaptable to their learning styles. Chapter members worked together to curate… read more about Duke University Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Recognized »
Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has invited its faculty to submit proposals for the creation of new research initiatives on campus.Following the successful launches of the SPACE Initiative and the Society-Centered AI Initiative, the Trinity Research Initiative will support new directions for interdisciplinary research through seed funding for nascent research collaborations, community-building, and complementary educational and outreach activities.Open to all areas of research and… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Invites Proposals for New Research Initiatives »
Ranthony Clark once dreamed of playing basketball at Duke. But life happened, her ambitions shifted, and in 2024, Clark came to Duke not as an athlete but as an Assistant Research Professor of Mathematics.Still, the echoes of her former aspirations dogged her as she settled into life in Durham. She thought about the first time she met Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson as a teenager when she attended a summer basketball camp at the University of Tennessee while Lawson played there.And that led her to reflect on… read more about Courtside in Cameron, A Duke Professor Finds Community »
Is the new Trump-backed congressional map proposed by the GOP-led North Carolina legislature a partisan gerrymander? Would election results under the map shift depending on the will of the people? Those are questions Duke math professor Jonathan Mattingly sought to answer in a new analysis published Sunday. read more about New NC Map Would ‘Lock In’ Another Republican District, Duke Math Professor Says »
Duke mathematician, Professor Kirsten Wickelgren, is featured in a Quanta Magazine article entitled “New Math Revives Geometry’s Oldest Problems”. The article tells about how Professor Wickelgren and her collaborator founded the field of quadratically enriched enumerative geometry, giving an original application of some very abstract machinery to solve concrete counting problems that can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and have continued to entrance mathematicians for millennia. For instance, how many straight… read more about Kirsten Wickelgren featured in Quanta Magazine »
Four Duke mathematicians are invited to the 2025 Research Conference, the goal of which is to celebrate the Millennium Problems and reflect on progress in the past 25 years.Tarek Elgindi and Alexander Kislev are invited to the workshop on PDE and Fluids.Lillian Pierce is invited to the workshop on Zeta and L-functions.Benjamin Rossman is invited to the workshop on P vs NP and Complexity Lower Bounds. read more about Four Duke mathematicians are featured in Clay Mathematics Institute for the 25th year anniversary of The Millennium Prize Problems. »
Ingrid Daubechies, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of Mathematics, was honored Thursday, Sept. 25, as a 2025 Citation Laureate, a global recognition of research excellence presented by Clarivate Plc. Daubechies, who received the National Medal of Science earlier this year, is among 22 researchers worldwide to be recognized by Clarivate, a global provider of transformative intelligence, with the honor this year. Since the program’s inception, 83 Citation Laureates have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes.… read more about Ingrid Daubechies Earns Global Recognition as 2025 Citation Laureate »
Using a relatively young theory, a team of mathematicians has started to answer questions whose roots lie at the very beginning of mathematics. read more about Duke Mathematician Helps Revive Geometry’s Oldest Problems »
Stefano Filipazzi studies the geometry of shapes you can’t draw. The new assistant professor of Mathematics is an algebraic geometer. “What I like to do is geometry — study shapes and try to understand their properties. The algebra part of being an algebraic geometer comes from focusing on shapes that can be described by a polynomial equation,” Filipazzi explained. For those whose memories of pre-calculus are a bit dusty, polynomial equations are built by adding up simple ingredients, such as numbers, variables… read more about Stefano Filipazzi Finds Order in Limitless Complexity »
The Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has launched the SPACE Initiative at Duke (Science & Policy to Advance Cosmic Exploration), a universitywide endeavor dedicated to advancing our understanding of the cosmos through interdisciplinary collaboration. All are invited to its celebratory kick-off event to be held on Sept. 8 at 4 p.m., at Penn Pavilion. The event will combine a poster presentation, a reception and a keynote talk by Duke alumna, astronaut and former Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches SPACE Initiative »
Professor Tarek Elgindi and Professor Jianfeng Lu from Duke Math have been invited to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2026, taking place in Philadelphia from July 23 to 26, 2026. The ICM is the world’s most prestigious mathematics conference, held every four years by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) since 1897. During the opening ceremony of the congress, many prestigious awards such as the Fields Medal will be presented. read more about Two Invited Speakers at ICM 2026 from Duke Math »
Duke University faculty member Jonathan Mattingly, the Kimberly J. Jenkins Distinguished University Professor of New Technologies in the Department of Mathematics, has been chosen to serve as interim director of the Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke (Rhodes iiD).Mattingly’s work centers on models of phenomena where randomness plays a significant role, such as air turbulence or Monte Carlo algorithms for Bayesian sampling. He has also worked on biological problems related to cellular metabolism, infectious diseases and… read more about Jonathan Mattingly Named Interim Director of Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke »
AI is transforming every industry, from medicine to film to finance. So, why not use it to study one of the world’s most revered ancient texts, the Bible? An international team of researchers, including Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin, assistant research professor of Mathematics at Duke University, combined artificial intelligence, statistical modeling and linguistic analysis to address one of the most enduring questions in biblical studies: the identification of its authors. By analyzing subtle variations in word… read more about Revealing Hidden Language Patterns in the Bible, With the Help of AI »