Rachel Levy (mathematician)

Rachel Levy (born 1968)[1] is an American mathematician and blogger. She currently serves as the inaugural Executive Director[2] of the North Carolina State University Data Science Academy[3]. She was a 2020-21 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow[4], serving in the United States Senate and sponsored by the American Mathematical Society. From 2018-2020 she served as deputy executive director of the Mathematical Association of America(2018-2020).[5] As a faculty member at Harvey Mudd College from 2007-2019 her research was in applied mathematics, including the mathematical modeling of thin films, and the applications of fluid mechanics to biology. [6][7] This work was funded by The National Science Foundation, Research Corporation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and US Office of Naval Research[8].

She now focuses on mathematics education, data science, and undergraduate mathematics research. She served as vice president for education of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM),[9] and as editor-in-chief of SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO), an online publication of SIAM for undergraduate research in applied mathematics.[10][11]

She currently serves on the following advisory boards:

  • National Academies Roundtable on Data Science Postsecondary Education[12]
  • Charles A. Dana Center Launch Years Consensus Panel[13]
  • Education Advisory Board of the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) [14]
  • Mathematics Advisory Group (MAG) of Transforming Postsecondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE)[15]

She was a co-founder of the BIG Math Network[16] and the Math Modeling Hub.[17]

She coined the acronym VITAL[18] for faculty who are visitors, instructors, TAs, adjuncts and lecturers.

Education and career

Levy did her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College, completing a double major in English and Mathematics in 1989. She then earned a master's degree in Educational Media and Instructional Design in 1996 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, another master's degree in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University, and a PhD in 2005 from North Carolina State University.[6][8] Her dissertation, Partial differential equations of thin liquid films: analysis and numerical simulation, was supervised by Michael Shearer.[8][19]

She taught mathematics to secondary school and beginning college students from the time she was an undergraduate until her return to graduate school. After postdoctoral research at Duke University, she joined the Harvey Mudd College faculty from 2007 to 2019.[6][8] At Harvey Mudd College, she was promoted to Professor of Mathematics and served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development. She was the Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor from 2011 to 2012.[8]

Contributions and publications

Levy co-authored Math Modelling: Computing and Communicating, a practical handbook for high school students with experience with computation and an interest in math modelling. (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2018)[20]

With Richard Laugesen and Fadil Santosa, Levy is the author of a book for mathematical scientists seeking work, BIG Jobs Guide: business, industry, and government careers for mathematical scientists, statisticians, and operations researchers (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2018)[21]

She is the lead author of the early grade section of the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Mathematical Modeling Education (GAIMME) Report (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP, 2018)[22]

With Michael Shearer, Levy is the author of a textbook on partial differential equations, Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction to Theory and Applications (Princeton University Press, 2015).[23]

Levy's research in applied mathematics has included work on surfactants, miniature robotic submarines, and flukeprints, the tracks left by whales on the surface of the ocean.[7][24] She has also studied the use of flipped classrooms in undergraduate education.[7][25]

She created a blog, Grandma Got STEM, about earlier generations of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [26][27][28][29][30] and currently blogs for MAA MathValues.

Awards and honors
  • SIAM Fellow in the 2021 class of fellows, "for leadership in applied mathematics education, especially in mathematical modeling, across the entire educational spectrum".[31]
  • HMC Leadership Award 2016 Outstanding Faculty Member, April 2016] [32].
  • Mathematical Association of America Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2013 [10][33]
  • Fulbright Specialist Roster, 2015–present.
  • Iris and Howard Critchell Chair, Harvey Mudd College, 2011-12.[34]
  • Avery Professor, Claremont Graduate University, Spring 2011. [35]
  • Project NExT Fellow, American Institute of Mathematics, 2007. [36]
  • Microsoft Future Professors Fellowship, 2003-04.[37]

Writing recognition
  • NCTM Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Award, ML Hernández, R Levy, MD Felton-Koestler and R Zbiek, “Modeling in the High School Curriculum,” Mathematics Teacher, vol. 110, no. 5, Dec 2016/Jan 2017. [38]
  • MAA Teaching Tidbits, 2016-17 Most Read Blogpost,“5 Ways to Respond when Students Respond with Incorrect Answers.” [39]
  • The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016, Featured article, “Industrial Mathematics Inspires Mathematical Modeling Tasks with High Cognitive Demand” from Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics, 2016. [40]
  • American Scientist Macroscope Blog, Most Read Blogpost, 2015 and 2016, “5 Reasons to teach Mathematical Modeling” [41]
  • SIAM Student Paper Prize, "Kinetics and Nucleation for Driven Thin Film Flow," 2005. [42]

References
  1. Birth year from Library of Congress catalog entry, retrieved 2019-01-13.
  2. "Rachel Levy Named Executive Director of NC State's Data Science Academy". June 6, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-12. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  3. "NC State Launches Universitywide Data Science Academy". March 25, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-12. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  4. "Fellow Directory | S&T Policy FellowsCentral". November 2020. Retrieved 2021-08-12. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. "Mathematical Association of America Welcomes New Deputy Executive Director, Rachel Levy | Mathematical Association of America". www.maa.org. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  6. "Rachel Levy", Profiles of Professional Mathematicians and Computational Scientists, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, retrieved 2018-07-13
  7. "Levy Promoted to Professor; Several Faculty Members Reappointed", Harvey Mudd College News, Harvey Mudd College, June 10, 2016, retrieved 2018-07-13
  8. "Leadership", About SIAM, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, retrieved 2018-07-13
  9. "Levy to Receive Alder Award for Teaching", Harvey Mudd College News, Harvey Mudd College, April 22, 2013
  10. "HMC Professor Named Editor of Online Math Publication SIURO", Harvey Mudd College News, Harvey Mudd College, December 13, 2012, retrieved 2018-07-13
  11. "Roundtable on Data Science Postsecondary Education". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  12. "Launch Years Consensus Panel". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  13. "Trustee & Advisory Boards". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  14. "Mathematics Advisory Group (MAG)". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  15. "BIG Math". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  16. "Mathematical Modeling Hub". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  17. "VITAL Faculty". Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. Rachel Levy at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  19. Bliss, Karen M.; Galluzzo, Benjamin J; Kavanagh, Kathleen; Levy, Rachel; Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2018). Math modeling: computing & communicating. ISBN 9781611975239. OCLC 1028525627.
  20. Levy, Rachel; Laugesen, Richard; Santosa, Fadil (2018). BIG jobs guide: business, industry, and government careers for mathematical scientists, statisticians, and operations researchers. ISBN 9781611975291. OCLC 1031408083.
  21. "GAIMME". SIAM. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  22. Hunacek, Mark (March 31, 2015), "Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction to Theory and Applications", MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America, retrieved 2018-07-13
  23. Jeffries, Glen (April 25, 2017), "The Path of the Unseen Whale", Hakai Magazine
  24. Song, Jason (November 16, 2014), "Harvey Mudd among colleges experimenting with 'flipped' classes", Los Angeles Times
  25. "Grandma Got Stem", Math in the News, Mathematical Association of America, July 26, 2013
  26. "Grandma Got STEM", Web life, Physics World, 28 (2): 41, February 2015, doi:10.1088/2058-7058/28/2/37
  27. Bittel, Jason (March 26, 2013), "Amazing "Grandma Got STEM" Project Fights Old-Lady Luddite Stereotype", Future tense, Slate
  28. Benderly, Beryl Lieff (March 26, 2013), "Grandma, What a Big Brain You Have!", Science, doi:10.1126/science.caredit.a1300056
  29. Stroumboulopoulos, George (March 27, 2013), Awesome Blog Celebrates Grandmas Who Work(ed) In Science, Tech, Engineering And Math, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
  30. "SIAM Announces Class of 2021 Fellows". SIAM News. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. March 31, 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  31. HMC Leadership Awards, retrieved 23 May 2020
  32. Henry L. Alder Award, Mathematical Association of America, retrieved 2018-07-13
  33. Iris Critchell Professorship (PDF), retrieved 23 May 2020
  34. CGU Faculty Bulletin, retrieved 23 May 2020
  35. Project NExT search, retrieved 23 May 2020
  36. Rachel Levy on LinkedIn, retrieved 23 May 2020
  37. "NCTM Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Award". Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  38. "MAA Teaching Tidbits, 2016-17 Most Read Blogpost". 20 September 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  39. "The Best Writing on Mathematics 2016". Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  40. "American Scientist Macroscope Blog, Most Read Blogpost, 2015 and 2016". 29 December 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  41. "SIAM Student Paper Prize". Retrieved 23 May 2020.

Further reading
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