Mathematics
‘Science on Display’: Renovations to Teaching Labs Continue in Science Center
Harvard began renovations to the Science Center teaching laboratories in December 2023, closing off much of the first and second floors of the building. The ongoing construction is part of a longer renovation of the Science Center expected to end in the summer of 2025.
Harvard Math Professor Melanie Matchett Wood Wins ‘Genius Grant’
Harvard Mathematics professor Melanie Matchett Wood was named one of 25 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship for her work in “addressing the foundational questions in number theory from the perspective of arithmetic statistics.”
Harvard Professor Melanie Wood Becomes First Woman to Win Waterman Award in Mathematics
The National Science Foundation named Harvard Mathematics professor Melanie M. Wood one of two recipients of the 2021 Alan T. Waterman Award earlier this month, making her the first woman to win the award in mathematics.
Moon Duchin
Moon Duchin is currently an associate professor of Mathematics and the director of the Science, Technology, and Society program at Tufts University.
Faculty Debates Proposals to Implement Data Requirement, Establish Biotech Degree
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences debated proposals to implement a new data requirement for the General Education program, establish a new biotechnology degree, and study course registration changes at its monthly meeting Tuesday.
Some Math Faculty Chafe at Administrators’ Role in Faculty Hiring Process
Math Professor Wilfried Schmid publicly criticized what he viewed as administrators’ undue influence in the department’s current search at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ meeting earlier this month.
Princeton Prof Details Mysteries of Machine Learning at Harvard Lecture Series
Hundreds of faculty and students crowded into Science Center Hall D this week to hear a Princeton University computer science professor limn the secrets of machine learning.
Math Dept Hires 2nd-Ever Female Tenured Prof, Ending Six-Year Drought
Harvard’s Math Department has hired a woman as a senior professor for the second time in its history, ending a six-year streak in which the department boasted not a single woman of that rank.
The Whiz Kids
When high school junior Annamira O’Toole was in fourth grade, she said she grew tired of “learning long division for the fourteenth time.”
'A Sort of Everyday Struggle'
Women in Harvard's math department report a bevy of inequalities—from a discouraging absence of female faculty to a culture of "math bro" condescension.
Sir Timothy Gowers
Renowned British mathematician Sir Timothy Gowers, a Fields Medalist, lectures on problems in additive combinatorics, as part of the Ahlfors lecture series organized by the Harvard Math Department.
To Keep Pace with Tech, Law School Seeks STEM Students
As HLS admissions officers are finalizing next year’s class, they are doing so with an eye toward a group of fields that deviate from the traditional path to legal studies: STEM.
A Decade after FAS Moved to Tenure Track, Math Continues on Separate Path
Eleven years after the formal introduction of a tenure track in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Mathematics department remains an outlier, with no assistant or associate professors to speak of and no promotions from within since the 1990s.
Covering Ground: Barriers and Entries to STEM at Harvard
Introductory courses act as both gateways and barriers into Harvard’s STEM-based concentrations, as low-level courses increasingly are tasked with catching students up to their peers.
Out to Lunch with Aaron Slipper
Aaron A. G. Slipper ’18 shepherds us to the secret home of the Science Center's sole easy-access stapler. “This is one of the less exciting parts of the day here, but wait until we get to class,” Slipper tells us, stapling his problem set on the way to Algebraic Topology.
Gender Inclusivity in Mathematics
Cathy O’Neil, left, and Moon Duchin ’97, right, discuss gender discrimination in academia on Monday evening. Gender Inclusivity in Mathematics, a new student organization promoting inclusivity for minorities and females, hosted the event.
Meena K. Boppana
Meena K. Boppana '16, former president of HUMA, speaks after the Harvard Gender Inclusivity in Mathematics kickoff event on Monday evening featuring Cathy O’Neil and Moon Duchin ’97.
Panel Discusses Gender Gap in Harvard Math Department
Female mathematicians discussed ways to alleviate the potential barriers facing women in math at the College at a panel discussion, which was organized by the Harvard Undergraduate Mathematics Association on Wednesday evening.
Women in Math
“There’s a lot of math out there, and there’s not much of us to understand it,” said Alison Miller, right, a Harvard mathematics postdoctoral fellow, “We need you to keep doing it.” Miller, former Crimson editor Rediet Abebe ’13, left, and Hilary Finucane ’09, center, discussed the role of women in the Harvard math department on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Harvard Undergraduate Mathematics Association.
Panelists Say STEM Fields Should Draw Women from Classroom
Panelists argued that the perception—particularly among women—that careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are reserved for gifted students are unsustainable for the future of STEM fields.
‘Breakthough Prize’ Grants $3 Million to Univ. Researchers
The awards were given to 12 recipients in in the celebrity-studded “Breakthrough Prize Ceremony” on Nov. 9.