Ellen Gethner facts for kids

Ellen Gethner is an American mathematician and computer scientist. She is known for her work in a field called graph theory. In 2002, she won a special award called the Chauvenet Prize from the Mathematical Association of America. She won it with her co-authors, Stan Wagon and Brian Wick, for their paper titled A stroll through the Gaussian Primes.

Ellen Gethner's Career

Ellen Gethner is a very accomplished person. She has earned two doctorates, which are very high-level degrees.

Her First Doctorate

She earned her first PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in mathematics in 1992. This was from Ohio State University. Her special project for this degree was about "Rational Period Functions For The Modular Group And Related Discrete Groups." Her professor, L. Alayne Parson, helped her with this work.

Her Second Doctorate

Later, in 2002, she earned a second PhD. This time, it was in computer science from the University of British Columbia. Her project for this degree was called "Computational Aspects of Escher Tilings." This work looked at how computers can help understand patterns like those made by the artist M. C. Escher. Her professors, Nick Pippenger and David G. Kirkpatrick, guided her.

Where She Works Now

Today, Ellen Gethner is a professor. She teaches in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. This is at the University of Colorado Denver.

Connecting Art and Math

Ellen Gethner has a really interesting area of research. She loves to find connections between geometry (a part of math that studies shapes) and art.

How Her Interest Started

Her interest began when she was in high school. She had a lesson where she used a kaleidoscope. This tool helped turn a simple drawing into a pattern. It looked a lot like the famous Escher drawings. Escher was an artist known for his amazing tessellations. These are patterns made of shapes that fit together perfectly without any gaps.

Her Research on Patterns

This early experience inspired her later research. She studied "wallpaper patterns." These are repeating designs that cover a surface, like wallpaper. She also explored how to change music into visual patterns. It's like seeing the music!