Elisenda Grigsby facts for kids

Julia Elisenda Grigsby, often called Eli, is an American mathematician. She teaches at Boston College. She started her research by studying shapes and spaces, especially things like knots. Now, she works with machine learning, which is about teaching computers to learn.

Becoming a Mathematician

Julia Grigsby loved math from a young age. She studied mathematics at Harvard University and earned her first degree in 1999. Before that, she also explored subjects like biochemistry and physics.

After college, she worked for a year in Silicon Valley, helping companies make better decisions using math. Then, she went back to school at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her highest degree, a doctorate, in 2005. Her teachers, Robion Kirby and Peter Ozsváth, helped her a lot.

Later, she did more research at Columbia University. In 2009, she became a professor at Boston College, where she still teaches today.

Helping Others in Math

Julia Grigsby is part of an important group called Girls' Angle. This group helps encourage girls to get involved in mathematics. She even created a series of video lessons featuring women who work in math. This helps inspire young girls to see themselves in math careers.

Special Recognition

In 2014, Julia Grigsby won a very special award. It was the first-ever Joan & Joseph Birman Research Prize in Topology and Geometry. This award is given every two years by the Association for Women in Mathematics. It celebrates amazing early-career female researchers in the fields of shapes, spaces, and geometry.