Eve Torrence facts for kids

Eve Alexandra Littig Torrence (born in 1963) is an American mathematician. She used to be a professor of mathematics at Randolph–Macon College. She also served as a past president of a math club called Pi Mu Epsilon. Eve Torrence is well-known for her amazing math books and articles. She also creates beautiful art using mathematical origami. She helps people understand math better, especially when it comes to ideas like the golden ratio.

Learning and Working in Math

Eve Torrence studied at Tufts University for her first degree. Later, she earned her Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Virginia. Her special project for her Ph.D. was about a complex math topic called "The Coordination of a Hexagonal-Barbilian Plane by a Quadratic Jordan Algebra."

She began her teaching career at Trinity Washington University in 1991. She taught there until 1994. Then, she joined the faculty at Randolph–Macon College in 1994. She became a full professor in 2008. She retired from teaching in 2021. When she retired, Randolph–Macon College gave her a special award called the Bruce M. Unger Award.

Eve Torrence was also the president of Pi Mu Epsilon. This is a national honor society for students who are great at mathematics in the United States. She led the society from 2011 to 2014. In 2019, she received the Sister Helen Christensen Service Award. This award was given to her by the Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section of the Mathematical Association of America for her great service to the math community.

Amazing Math Creations

Eve Torrence has won awards for her writing. In 2007, she won the Trevor Evans Award from the Mathematical Association of America. She won it for a paper she wrote with Adrian Rice.

She has also written several books about mathematics. These books help people learn and understand different math ideas.

One of her cool creations is a sculpture called "Sunshine." You can see it in the lobby of a building at Randolph–Macon College. This sculpture shows five aluminum shapes that fit together perfectly. They are inspired by a special origami design made by another mathematician, Tom Hull.

In 2015, Eve Torrence won the "Best in Show" award at a math art exhibit. Her winning pieces were called "Day" and "Night." These artworks are examples of mathematical origami. She used folded cardstock shapes called rhombi to create curved surfaces. These surfaces look like hyperbolic paraboloids. She connected them in a pattern that looks like a rhombic dodecahedron. Her art shows how math can be beautiful and creative!