Jill Pipher facts for kids

Jill Catherine Pipher, born on December 14, 1955, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is an American mathematician. She is known for her important work in math and for leading big math organizations. From 2019 to 2020, she was the president of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Before that, she led the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) from 2011 to 2013. She also helped start and lead a special math center called the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) from 2011 to 2016. This center, located in Providence, Rhode Island, gets funding from the NSF.

What Jill Pipher Studies

Jill Pipher's research focuses on several interesting areas of mathematics. These include harmonic analysis and Fourier analysis, which are ways to study waves and patterns. She also works with partial differential equations, which are math equations used to describe how things change. A very important area she studies is cryptography. This is the science of making and breaking secret codes.

Her Work in Cryptography

Dr. Pipher has written over 60 research papers. She also co-wrote a textbook called An Introduction to Mathematical Cryptography. This book helps people learn about the math behind secret codes. Her work in cryptography is especially important for keeping information safe online.

Jill Pipher's Journey in Math

Jill Pipher is currently a special professor of Mathematics at Brown University. She holds the title of Elisha Benjamin Andrews Professor.

Her Education

She earned her first degree, a B.A., from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1979. She continued her studies at UCLA and received her PhD in 1985. Her main teacher and guide during her PhD was John B. Garnett.

Her Teaching Career

After finishing her PhD, Dr. Pipher taught at the University of Chicago from 1985 to 1990. In 1990, she joined the faculty at Brown University. She later became the head of the Mathematics Department at Brown, serving in that role from 2005 to 2008.

Starting a Company

In 1996, Jill Pipher and her colleagues, Jeffrey Hoffstein, Daniel Lieman, and Joseph Silverman, started a company. It was called NTRU Cryptosystems, Inc. This company was created to share their new ways of making secret codes. Their special code systems were called NTRUEncrypt and NTRUSign. Today, this company is part of Security Innovation, Inc.

Awards and Honors

Jill Pipher has received many awards and honors for her contributions to mathematics.

Recognized by Math Societies

In 2012, she became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This means she was recognized as a top mathematician. In 2017, she was chosen as a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics. She was part of the very first group to receive this honor. In 2019, she was named a SIAM Fellow. This award recognized her deep work in analysis and equations, her new ideas in cryptography, and her great leadership in science. In 2021, she was also named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Special Lectures

In 2014, Dr. Pipher was invited to give a lecture at the Joint Mathematics Meetings. This is a big gathering of mathematicians. She spoke about "The Mathematics of Lattice-based Cryptography." In 2018, the Association for Women in Mathematics chose her to give their special Noether Lecture.

Leading the AMS

From 2019 to 2020, Jill Pipher served as the 65th president of the American Mathematical Society. She was only the third woman ever to be elected to this important position. The other two women were Julia Robinson (who served from 1983 to 1984) and Cathleen Synge Morawetz (who served from 1995 to 1996).