Chuu-Lian Terng facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chuu-Lian Terng
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| 滕楚蓮 | |
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Terng in 2010
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| Born | 1949 Hualien City
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| Nationality | Taiwanese-American |
| Education | National Taiwan University (BS) Brandeis University (PhD) |
| Occupation | Mathematician |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Palais |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Natural Vector Bundles and Natural Differential Operators (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Palais |
Chuu-Lian Terng (Chinese: 滕楚蓮; pinyin: Téng Chǔlián) is a mathematician from Taiwan and America. She studies special areas of math called differential geometry and integrable systems. This means she looks at shapes, curves, and surfaces in a deep mathematical way. She also studies how certain math problems can be solved in a very organized way.
Contents
Her Journey in Mathematics
Early Life and Education
Chuu-Lian Terng was born in 1949 in Hualien City, Taiwan. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), from National Taiwan University in 1971. Later, she moved to the United States.
She received her Ph.D. (a higher degree in research) from Brandeis University in 1976. Her teacher for this degree was Richard Palais, who she later married.
Teaching and Research Roles
After getting her Ph.D., Dr. Terng worked as a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley from 1976 to 1978. She then became an assistant professor at Princeton University from 1978 to 1982. She was the first woman to be an assistant professor in mathematics at Princeton University.
From 1982 to 2004, she was a professor at Northeastern University. In 2004, she joined the University of California at Irvine. She is now a professor emerita there, which means she is a retired professor who still holds her title.
Dr. Terng also spent time doing research at other famous places. She was at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton for two years. She also spent two years at the Max-Planck Institute in Bonn, Germany.
Supporting Women in Math
Chuu-Lian Terng has been a very active member of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). This group helps and supports women who work in math. She was the President of the AWM from 1995 to 1997.
She also led important conferences and committees for the AWM. For example, she chaired the Julia Robinson Celebration of Women in Math Conference in 1996.
Her Work and Discoveries
Dr. Terng has been part of the team that reviews articles for many important math journals. These include the Transactions of the AMS and the Taiwanese Journal of Mathematics.
In 1999, she was chosen to give a special lecture called the AWM/MAA Falconer Lecturer. Her early research looked at how to classify certain math structures. She then became interested in the geometry of shapes within larger spaces.
She helped create a way to understand special shapes called "isoparametric submanifolds." She also found ways to create "soliton equations" from these shapes. Soliton equations are special math problems that describe waves that keep their shape.
More recently, Dr. Terng and another mathematician, Karen Uhlenbeck, developed a new way to understand certain math problems. This new approach helps explain hidden patterns in these problems.
She has also written a book about geometry and edited a survey volume on "Integrable systems."
Speaking at Major Conferences
Dr. Terng is a highly respected speaker in the math world. In 2006, she was an Invited Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid, Spain. This is a very important event for mathematicians.
In 2011, she gave another invited speech at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans.
Awards and Honors
- Sloan Fellowship in 1980.
- Humboldt Senior Scientist Award in 1997.
- AWM/MAA Falconer Lecturer in 1999.
- Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012.
- Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics in 2018. She was part of the very first group of people to receive this honor.
Special Recognition
Chuu-Lian Terng is one of six women mathematicians from National Taiwan University. These women include Sun-Yung Alice Chang, Fan Chung, Winnie Li, Jang-Mei Wu, and Mei-Chi Shaw.
A famous mathematician named Shiing-Shen Chern once called this group "a miracle in Chinese history; the glory of the Chinese people." This shows how important and inspiring their achievements are.
