Lillian B. Pierce, Professor of Math at Duke, was named as a 2025 fellow by the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), for her many contributions in the support of women, both locally and nationally. Her organization of such events as “Re:boot Number Theory”, “A Room of One’s Own”, and GROW were instrumental in this award. Only seven women from across the country were also named in her 2025 AWM Fellow Class.The Executive Committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) has established the AWM Fellows… read more about Lillian B. Pierce Named A 2025 Fellow By The Association For Women In Mathematics (AWM) »
Seven Trinity College of Arts & Sciences faculty members have been awarded funding from the Undergraduate Program Enhancement Fund. Backed by Duke’s Provost’s Office, the fund supports innovative proposals that enhance undergraduate experiential learning.Owen Astrachan, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, will design a course called AI, Algorithms, and APIs: Great Ideas of Computer Science (Redux). He envisions the course as an alternative introduction to the major, with the goal of making it the one course… read more about Seven Trinity Faculty Awarded Funding to Enhance Undergraduate Programs »
You know geometry: circles, squares, maybe a polygon. You also know about dimensions: a line, a plane and a 3D volume. Now how about G2-geometry occurring in seven-dimensional space? If it’s not ringing a bell, don’t feel bad. G2-geometry is not only a specialized field, but also a relatively new advance in a discipline going back thousands of years. The contemporary study of geometry has moved far beyond the foundations of what most people think of as classic geometry, established by the Greek mathematician Euclid.… read more about Through Math+, Undergraduate Math Students Push the Frontier of Geometry »
President Joe Biden has announced that Ingrid Daubechies, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of Mathematics, will receive the National Medal of Science in 2025. She is being honored for her pioneering work on signal processing.Established by the U.S. Congress in 1959, the National Medal of Science is the highest possible recognition bestowed on scientists and engineers in the nation. Each year, a committee of distinguished scientists and engineers is appointed by the president of the United States to evaluate… read more about Ingrid Daubechies Awarded National Medal of Science »
Marie-Hélène Tomé, a senior Mathematics major, will be awarded the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) 35th Annual Alice T. Schafer Prizes for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman. Tomé's research interests are in number theory and algebraic geometry. Through her participation in numerous research experiences, she has built an impressive body of work, including a solo paper published in the Journal of Number Theory. Her mentors praise her intuition, describing her as a fast learner and a deep… read more about Marie-Hélène Tomé Wins Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman Award »
Mathematics Professor Jonathan Mattingly has been selected as a Simons Fellow in Mathematics. The award provides a salary and funds for leave-related expenses that allow faculty to extend their sabbaticals — which typically last one semester — by up to six months.Mattingly has a broad and highly collaborative research program, often applying complex mathematical solutions to practical problems that span from cellular homeostasis and the spread of the common flu, to fluid mechanics and gerrymandering. The latter gained… read more about Artful Abstractions: Simons Fellowship Allows Jonathan Mattingly to Dive Into New Problems »
While physicists and engineers are working on building the computers of tomorrow — quantum computers, that is — Yu Tong is pushing the field forward from a different angle. As a mathematician and a theorist, he works not with subatomic particles and lasers, but with pencil and paper, designing algorithms for quantum computers. “You have to use your quantum computers to do something and for that, you need algorithms,” said the new assistant professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We need a new… read more about How Will We Use Quantum Computers? Armed With Pen and Paper, Yu Tong Wants to Find Out. »
Congratulations to Tarek Elgindi and Hongkai Zhao for being selected by the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) as recipients of the 2024 Frontiers of Science Award (FSA) in Mathematics. The FSA honors top research, with an emphasis on achievements from the past ten years which are both excellent and of outstanding scholarly value. For the 2024 selection, scientific works in both basic and applied research are chosen in 42 areas of the three basic science fields (mathematics,… read more about Tarek Elgindi and Hongkai Zhao Awarded 2024 Frontiers of Science Award »
Di Fang, assistant professor of Mathematics, was granted a 2024 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Awards by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAUS). Fang, whose research focuses on the theory of quantum computing, numerical analysis for quantum algorithms and classical algorithms for quantum simulation, joined the Duke Department of Mathematics in 2023. The Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards are one-year grants that provide seed money for junior faculty members and often result in additional funding from… read more about Di Fang Receives ORAU’s Junior Faculty Award »
Three undergraduate students whose research shows their deep expertise on number theory, 19th century American history and analysis of poetry were honored with Faculty Scholar Awards, the highest honor bestowed by university faculty on undergraduates. Presented through the Academic Council, the 2024 winners are Sarah Konrad, Arielle Stern and Marie-Hélène Tomé. The award was established to highlight students who are likely to pursue a scholarly career and already have established a record of research and independent study… read more about Three Juniors Named Faculty Scholars »
Ingrid Daubechies, James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics and Electrical and Computer Engineering has been elected to the Royal Society, an honor considered second only to the Nobel Prize according to the science community of the United Kingdom.The recognition, granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London, is awarded to individuals who have made a “substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science.”Belgian-American… read more about Ingrid Daubechies Elected to Royal Society »
Four Duke University undergraduates have received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a federally endowed award that supports students in pursuing careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Ayush Jain, Juliet Jiang, Michelle Si and Marie-Hélène Tomé are among the 508 students nationwide awarded Goldwater Scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Goldwater Scholars were chosen based on academic merit from a pool of 1,353 natural science… read more about Four Undergraduates Receive National Goldwater Scholarships »
Professor Harold E. Layton, a long-time faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, passed away last November. Below is a statement from Mike Reed that was read at his memorial service: Harold Layton was a first-rate mathematician and a deeply moral and kind man. I’ll start by reviewing his professional career. Harold received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Duke in 1986 and was a visiting member of the Courant Institute at New York University from 1986 until 1988, when he came back to Duke as… read more about In Memoriam: Math Professor Harold E. Layton »
Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 32 faculty and will recognize them in a ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn on May 23. “I am very pleased to honor these faculty members with distinguished professorships,” said President Vincent Price. “Their outstanding scholarship has advanced knowledge across a wide variety of fields and made a positive impact on society, and I am proud to have them as colleagues.” Distinguished professorships honor faculty who are well-established members of the Duke… read more about Five Trinity Faculty Members Among Those Awarded New Distinguished Professorships for 2024 »
Jessica Fintzen, Professor of Mathematics, was recently awarded the 2024 Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra. “Receiving the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Algebra is a great honor and at the same time a big encouragement for me,” said Fintzen. The Cole Prize in Algebra recognizes outstanding research in algebra that has been published within the past six years. Fintzen’s research deals with contributions in reshaping comprehension of representations of p-adic groups. It is awarded every three years and comes with a prize… read more about Jessica Fintzen Wins Frank Nelson Cole Prize for Algebra »
What inspired an Economics and Mathematics dual major to also pursue a seemingly disparate minor in Cinematic Arts? For Parinay Gupta, it was his Writing 101 course: Gender and Sexuality in Latin American Films.“Delving into the analysis of gender representation in Latin American cinema, I became increasingly intrigued by the creative processes that transpired behind the camera and shaped the narratives presented on screen,” he explains.He took an acting course in Theater Studies in the spring and followed with a summer… read more about When Cinematic Arts Brings Economics into Focus »
On October 27th, we welcomed Dr. Corrine Yap from Georgia Tech for our Fall Duke Math DEI Colloquium. Dr. Yap performed a one-woman play called Uniform Convergence that took place in Physics 128. More than 60 people were in attendance, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty at Duke Math, as well as colleagues and students from Duke Theater Studies and UNC Math. The performance was inspiring and everyone had a chance to connect with Dr. Yap at a reception following the play. Uniform… read more about Duke Math DEI presents Corrine Yap in "Uniform Convergence" »
