Professor Nancy Neudauer Receives Simons Foundation Award

The Simons Foundation has awarded Pacific University mathematics professor Nancy Neudauer a five-year grant of $35,000 to support her collaborative research project, “Matroids in an International Research Community: generating new researchers.”

Neudauer is a three-time recipient of a Fulbright specialist award who has traveled to Africa to advance mathematics education by helping further develop the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa. She will travel to Rwanda later this year to help start an AIMS location there.

During the past academic year, Neudauer has had three papers published by three of the nation's top mathematics journals: the Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B; Discrete Mathematics; and the Journal of Graphs and Combinatorics.

Neudauer’s project involves extending some of this work with collaborators around the country and across the world, and starting new projects. It also involves bringing matroids to a wider audience through an upcoming book and introducing new researchers to the field by conducting journal-quality research with both African and Pacific students.

Neudauer is the second Pacific faculty member in the past three years to receive a Simons Foundation award, following professor Chris Guenther in 2013.

"Having multiple Simons Foundation honorees comprise part of our Mathematics and Computer Science faculty is a testament to the department’s stellar quality," College of Arts and Sciences dean Lisa Carstens said.

Simons Foundation awards are based on the quality of the applicant’s previous research and on the likely impact that the collaboration grant will have on future research.

Cofounded in New York City by Jim and Marilyn Simons in 1994, the Simons Foundation advances the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The foundation awards grants in mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences, autism research (SFARI) and education & outreach. The Simons Foundation seeks to create strong collaborations and foster cross-pollination of ideas between investigators, as these interactions often lead to unexpected breakthroughs and new understanding.

Friday, July 22, 2016