Annalisa Crannell facts for kids

Annalisa Crannell is an American mathematician. She is an expert in the math of water waves, chaos theory (which studies unpredictable systems), and geometric perspective (how we see 3D objects on a flat surface). She teaches math as a professor at Franklin & Marshall College.

Early Life and Education

Annalisa Crannell grew up with parents who were both scientists. Her dad, Hall L. Crannell, was a nuclear physicist, and her mom, Carol Jo Crannell, was a solar physicist for NASA.

When she was in high school, Annalisa loved Spanish class. She didn't really think much about math. She went to Bryn Mawr College planning to study languages. But then, her calculus professor, Mario Martelli, noticed how talented she was. He encouraged her to take a very advanced math class even when she was just starting college. This made her change her mind, and she decided to study mathematics instead!

She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1986 with great honors. Later, she earned her Ph.D. (a high-level degree) in 1992 from Brown University. Her advisor for her Ph.D. was Walter Craig.

Career in Mathematics

Annalisa Crannell started teaching at Franklin & Marshall College in 1992. She also helped lead a student living area called Bonchek College House from 2005 to 2010.

She has been involved in several important math organizations. She was a leader for the East Pennsylvania Delaware section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) from 2014 to 2016. She was also on the executive committee for the Association for Women in Mathematics from 2012 to 2015. She even chaired a committee for the American Mathematical Society from 2003 to 2005.

For more than 15 years, she has been an associate editor for Mathematics Magazine. This magazine is published by the Mathematical Association of America.

What She Studies

Annalisa Crannell's early research was about the math of water waves. She looked at how waves behave in certain situations.

She has also written or edited several books about math:

• Starting Our Careers: A Collection of Essays and Advice on Professional Development from the Young Mathematicians' Network (1999) – This book helps young mathematicians start their careers.
• Writing Projects for Mathematics Courses: Crushed Clowns, Cars, and Coffee to Go (2004) – This book gives fun math projects for students.
• Viewpoints: Mathematical Perspective and Fractal Geometry in Art (2011) – This book explores how math, especially perspective and fractals, is used in art.
• Perspective and Projective Geometry (2019) – This book is about how we see things in 3D and a type of geometry called projective geometry.

One of her cool recent research areas is studying perspective in art. She looks at how artists like Albrecht Dürer used perspective in their drawings. To understand how an artwork was made, she sometimes brings chopsticks to art galleries! She uses them to find the "vanishing points" in a painting. These points help her figure out the best place to stand to view the art just as the artist intended.

Awards and Recognition

Annalisa Crannell has won awards for her excellent teaching.

• In 2008, she received the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. This award is given by the Mathematical Association of America to teachers who are outstanding and whose teaching has made a difference beyond their own school.
• In 2016, she won the Christian R. And Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award For Distinguished Teaching.

Interests Outside Math

Annalisa Crannell is also an athlete! She completed her first Ironman Triathlon on August 24, 2014. An Ironman Triathlon is a very long race that includes swimming, biking, and running.

Images for kids

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  Annalisa Crannell speaking at Franklin & Marshall College in 2017