MSRI May 12 Workshop: Pathways in Mathematics

The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly MSRI, celebrates May 12 with a panel discussion and social event open to all on the topic "Pathways in Mathematics". This is a hybrid workshop taking place on Zoom and in person at SLMath and satellite institutions.

There is no cost to participate. This event is open to worldwide participation. Download a PDF flyer to share.

"Pathways in Mathematics"

All event times are listed in U.S. Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -7). (What time is that for you?)
See below for panelist biographies.

• 8:00-9:00AM PDT: Speaker Presentations
  • Ilka Agricola, University of Marburg - Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
  • Kristin Lauter, FAIR Labs North America at Meta
  • Salomé Martínez, Universidad de Chile
  • Jeanette Shakalli, Fundapromat

• 9:00-10:15AM PDT: Panel Discussion
• 10:30-10:45AM PDT: Break
• 10:45-11:15AM PDT: Social Tea (online)
• 11:15-12:30PM PDT: Breakout Room Discussions (Online and at satellite locations)

 

How to Register

Register online: https://www.msri.org/workshops/1084.

You must be logged into MSRI.org to register. You may create a free msri.org account here if you do not have one already. On the right menu, there is an orange button with "Click here to Register online". Follow this link and proceed with the registration. For questions regarding registration, please contact 1084@msri.org for assistance.

 

Satellite Locations

A complete list of participating satellite locations is posted to the event website. All events will be broadcast via Zoom. 

 

Panelist Biographies

Ilka Agricola, University of Marburg - Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany)

Prof.Dr.habil. Ilka Agricola is Professor of Mathematics at University of Marburg / Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, with research interests in differential geometry and its applications in mathematical physics, including spin geometry and Dirac operators, Holonomy theory of connections with torsion, manifolds with non-integrable geometries, and the geometry of homogeneous spaces. She studied theoretical physics at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Munich, followed by a guest stay at Rutgers University (USA), and earned her doctorate in mathematics at Humboldt University of Berlin.

Agricola was the President of the German Mathematical Society 2021-2022 and she is the Chair of the Committee on Electronic Information and Communication of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) through 2026. She is Editor in Chief of two academic journals in mathematics published by Springer Science+Business Media, Annals of Global Analysis and Geometry (since 2015) and Mathematische Semesterberichte (since 2021). She is an editor of the journals Communications in Mathematics (published by De Gruyter) and Journal of the European Mathematical Society (published by EMS Press).

From 2003 to 2008, Agricola led a Volkswagen Foundation-funded research group at Humboldt University in the field of special geometries in mathematical physics. From 2004 to 2008 she was a project manager in the priority program for string theory at the German Research Foundation and the Collaborative Research Center 1080. She took the Habilitation in 2004 at the University of Greifswald in mathematics, and in 2008 she was appointed full professor at the University of Marburg. At University of Marburg, she served as Dean of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from 2014-2018, and she currently serves as Head of the Vertrauensrat (Confidential Council) to support university members with sexual harassment complaints and related matters.

Kristin Lauter, FAIR Labs North America at Meta (USA)

Kristin Lauter is an American mathematician and cryptographer whose research areas are number theory, algebraic geometry, cryptography, coding theory, and machine learning. She is particularly known for her work on Private AI and Homomorphic Encryption, for standardizing and deploying Elliptic Curve Cryptography, and for introducing Supersingular Isogeny Graphs as a foundational hard problem for Post Quantum Cryptography. She is currently the Director of FAIR Labs North America at Meta AI, directing Labs in Seattle, Menlo Park, New York, Montreal, and Pittsburgh. She served as President of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) from 2015 –2017, and as the Polya Lecturer for the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) for 2018-2020.

Lauter received her BA, MS, and Ph.D degrees in mathematics from the University of Chicago, in 1990, 1991, and 1996, respectively. She was a T.H. Hildebrandt Research Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan (1996-1999), a Visiting Scholar at Max Planck Institut fur Mathematik in Bonn, Germany (1997), and a Visiting Researcher at Institut de Mathematiques Luminy in France (1999).  From 1999-2021, she was a researcher at Microsoft Research, leading the Cryptography and Privacy research group for as Partner Research Manager from 2008—2021.

She is a co-founder of the Women in Numbers (WIN) network, a research collaboration community for women in number theory, and she was the lead PI for the AWM NSF Advance Grant (2015-2020) to create and sustain research networks for women in all areas of mathematics. She serves on the National Academies Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics (CATS), and on the Scientific Board for the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, UK. She has served on the Advisory Board of the Banff International Research Station, the Council of the American Mathematical Society (2014-2017), and the Executive Committee of the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences (CBMS).

In 2008 Lauter and her coauthors were awarded the Selfridge Prize in Computational Number Theory. She was elected to the 2015 Class of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) "for contributions to arithmetic geometry and cryptography as well as service to the community." She was an Inaugural Fellow of the AWM (2017). In 2020, Lauter was elected as a Fellow of both the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).  In 2021, she was elected as an Honorary member of the Real Sociedad Matemática Española (RSME).  

Salomé Martínez, Universidad de Chile (Chile)

Salomé Martínez is a Professor at the Department of Mathematical Engineering of the University of Chile where she has been a faculty member since 2002. She is also a Principal Investigator of the Center for Mathematical Modeling where she is the current Director of Transfer and Innovation. She has been a corresponding member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences since 2018.

Besides her career as researcher in mathematics, Salomé has led a line of work with impact at the national and international levels around training of teachers in mathematics. She created the Math Education Lab at the CMM, which hosts more than 20 researchers and professionals from different backgrounds, constituting a unique capacity in Chile able to collaborate on implementing public policy and innovating in mathematics instruction. In particular, she leads Suma y Sigue, an e-learning professional development program for primary and secondary school teachers. Her work has been recognized nationally and internationally, namely through the "Training teachers to teach mathematics in the 21st century" UNESCO Chair, and the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for exceptional practice and performance to improve the effectiveness of teachers (2017-2018) awarded to the Suma y Sigue program.

Since 2012, she has participated in various university commissions that have carried out a transformative agenda on issues of gender equity and diversity at the University of Chile. She led the creation of the Direction for Diversity and Gender in the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and was its first director (2018-2019). The mainstreaming of gender equity and diversity inclusion has been articulated from this institution to all areas of the faculty, a strategic axis for future development, contributing to university and national efforts in this domain.

Jeanette Shakalli, Fundapromat (Panama)

Jeanette Shakalli is the Executive Director of the Panamanian Foundation for the Promotion of Mathematics (FUNDAPROMAT). Born in Panama City, Panama, Dr. Shakalli attended the Episcopal School of Panama. Won a Gold Medal and a Bronze Medal in the Panamanian Math Olympics. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 2007. Did research in biochemistry and in mathematics during her undergraduate studies and received the Senior GE Prize for Mathematics Majors in 2007. From 2007 until 2008, she was recognized with the W.E. Coppage Fellowship in Mathematics by Texas A&M University and obtained her PhD in Mathematics from Texas A&M University in 2012. During her graduate studies, she worked as Teaching Assistant and Instructor of several undergraduate math courses. 

From 2012 until 2019, Dr. Shakalli worked at the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT) of Panama. Since 2016, she has organized more than 500 math outreach activities in the Republic of Panama, both virtual and in-person, and has been invited to give more than 70 keynote lectures representing her country as well as the math community.

Dr. Shakalli was recognized as “One of the Twenty Faces of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA)” in their magazine MAA FOCUS in the April/May 2017 edition. Furthermore, she was promoted as IEEE Senior Member in 2019. Her unique career profile appears on the fourth edition of the book “101 Careers in Mathematics.” In 2021, she received the Fredy Villalta Knowledge Promoter Prize by the IEEE Council of Central America and Panama.

Dr. Shakalli currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the Panamanian Association for the Advancement of Science (APANAC) and Program Committee Chair of the Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) on Recreational Mathematics (SIGMAA REC). Since 2017, Dr. Shakalli is the International Mathematical Union (IMU)’s Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) Ambassador for Panama. Since 2021, she represents Panama as a member of the Math Outreach Committee of the Mathematical Union of Latin America and the Caribbean (UMALCA). She is also a member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), and of OrigamiUSA.