Jeannette Janssen facts for kids
Jeannette Catharina Maria Janssen is a smart mathematician from both the Netherlands and Canada. She studies graph theory and complex networks. Think of these as ways to understand connections, like friends on social media or roads between cities. She teaches math at Dalhousie University. She also leads the math department there. Plus, she helps lead a group called the Activity Group on Discrete Mathematics. This group is part of a bigger organization for math called the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
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Her Journey in Math
Early Studies
Jeannette Janssen loved math from a young age. She earned her first advanced degree, a master's degree, in 1988. She studied at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Later, she earned her Ph.D. (a very high degree) in 1993. She got this degree from Lehigh University in the United States. Her special project for her Ph.D. was about Latin Squares. These are like puzzles where numbers or symbols appear only once in each row and column.
Teaching and Research
Before finishing her Ph.D., Dr. Janssen taught math in Mexico. She was a lecturer at the Universidad de Guanajuato from 1988 to 1990. After getting her Ph.D., she became a researcher. She worked at two universities in Canada: Université du Québec à Montréal and Concordia University.
In 1995, she moved to England. She worked at the London School of Economics. Then, in 1997, she came back to Canada. She taught at Acadia University. Later, she joined Dalhousie University, where she still works today.
Leading the Way
At Dalhousie, Dr. Janssen became the head of the math department in 2016. This was a big step! She was the first woman to lead the mathematics department there.
Helping the Math Community
Dr. Janssen also helps other mathematicians. From 2011 to 2016, she led a group called the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences. She still helps guide this group today. She was also chosen to lead the Activity Group on Discrete Mathematics. This group is part of a big math organization called SIAM. She led this group for the 2021–2022 term.
Her Math Discoveries
Solving a Puzzle
Dr. Janssen is known for solving a tough math problem. It was part of something called the Dinitz conjecture. This problem is about how to color the edges of a special kind of graph. Imagine you have two groups of friends. Everyone in the first group is friends with everyone in the second group. The problem was about assigning "colors" (or tasks) to these friendships.
In 1993, Dr. Janssen found a solution for a part of this problem. Her work showed that you could always finish a "Latin rectangle" puzzle. This was a big surprise to many math experts! Her solution helped others, like Fred Galvin, solve the rest of the Dinitz conjecture a year later.
