Christiane Rousseau facts for kids
Christiane Rousseau OC OQ is a mathematician from France and Canada. She was born in Versailles, France, on March 30, 1954. She is a professor in the math and statistics department at the Université de Montréal. From 2002 to 2004, she was the president of the Canadian Mathematical Society.
Becoming a Mathematician
Christiane Rousseau earned her doctorate degree from the Université de Montréal in 1977. Her special study was about "Topos Theory and Complex Analysis." After doing more research at McGill University, she joined the faculty at Montréal in 1979. She became a full professor in 1991. She also served as the temporary director of the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques from 2008 to 2009.
She was the first woman to be a vice-president of the International Mathematical Union. She held this important role from 2011 to 2014. She helped start and lead the "Mathematics on Planet Earth" project in 2013. This project was supported by UNESCO. She also played a big part in getting March 14 recognized as the International Day of Mathematics by UNESCO.
What She Studies
Christiane Rousseau's main areas of study are differential equations and dynamical systems. These are types of math that help us understand how things change over time. For example, she studies how these equations behave in special situations. She also looks at how they can help us understand things in mathematical biology. This includes studying equations like the predator-prey Lotka–Volterra equations, which show how animal populations affect each other.
She also works to make math fun and understandable for young people. She gives presentations in high schools and colleges (called cégeps in Quebec). She has also written over 35 easy-to-understand articles for the Accromath journal.
Awards and Honors
Christiane Rousseau has received many awards for her work. She won the Adrien-Pouliot Prize and the Abel-Gauthier Prize from the Mathematical Association of Québec. She also received the 2009 Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service from the Canadian Mathematical Society.
In 2014, she won the George Pólya Award from the Mathematical Association of America. This was for an article she wrote about a discovery by Inge Lehmann. The article was called "How Inge Lehmann Discovered the Inner Core of the Earth."
In 2012, she became a special member, called a fellow, of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). In 2017, she was the first person to receive the AMS' Bertrand Russell prize. This award is for people who use math to help human values and the common good. In 2018, the Canadian Mathematical Society also named her as one of their first fellows.
In 2024, she was given a very high honor. She was appointed as an officer to the Order of Canada. She lives in Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec.
