Kenneth M. Golden facts for kids

Kenneth Morgan Golden (born September 30, 1958) is an American applied mathematician. He is a special professor of Mathematics at the University of Utah. He also teaches biomedical engineering. Golden studies sea ice and how it affects Earth’s climate. He also looks at how sea ice impacts the animals and plants living in polar oceans. He has been on 19 trips to the Arctic and Antarctic to study sea ice.

Learning and Early Work

Kenneth Golden became interested in sea ice when he was in high school. He studied satellite pictures of Antarctic sea ice at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Later, at Dartmouth College, he studied math and physics. He also worked at a US Army lab that researched cold regions. There, he helped measure sea ice thickness using radar. They thought of sea ice as a mix of pure ice and salty water pockets.

This early work led him to get his Ph.D. in Mathematics from NYU in 1984. His studies focused on how different materials mix together. After that, he worked at Rutgers University and Princeton University. In 1991, he moved to the University of Utah.

Researching Sea Ice

Sea ice is like a complex material made of many parts. Golden studies everything from tiny pockets of salty water inside the ice to huge ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean. He also looks at how sea ice affects tiny algae and even polar bears.

For example, sea ice has tiny channels that allow fluids to flow through it. This is called fluid permeability. This flow affects how melt ponds form on the ice surface. These ponds are important because they change how much sunlight the ice reflects. This reflection, called albedo, is key for understanding Earth's climate.

Golden and his team found that sea ice has a special point called a percolation threshold. This means that if there's enough space (porosity) or if the temperature is right, the salty water channels connect. This allows fluid to flow through the ice. They used a special math idea called percolation theory to predict this flow.

They also found that as melt ponds grow, their shapes change in a complex way. They used an old math model, first made to understand magnets, to predict the shapes of these ponds. This research helps scientists better predict what will happen to Earth’s sea ice and the life it supports. It shows how math and physics help us understand our planet.

Golden also studies how living things affect sea ice. For instance, tiny algae in the ice make sticky substances. These substances change the ice's structure and how fluids move through it. His work helps us understand the amazing connections between ice and life.

His research on sea ice has also helped other areas of science. For example, it has led to ideas for making new materials. It has also helped understand how electricity moves through certain materials. Even monitoring bone health (osteoporosis) has benefited from his work.

Golden has led many big research projects. He has also guided over 100 young researchers. Many of them have joined him on trips to the Arctic and Antarctic. He has given more than 500 talks around the world. He has even spoken to the U.S. Congress four times. He has won awards for his teaching, mentoring, and for explaining science to the public.

Media and Movies

Kenneth Golden's research has been featured in many news outlets. These include Science, Scientific American, Physics Today, Popular Mechanics, and the BBC. He has been interviewed on radio, TV, and online. He has also appeared in short films made by the NSF and NBC News.

It might seem strange for a math professor, but Golden has some cool connections to famous movies. He met mathematician John Nash, who later won the Nobel Prize. Nash's life story became the movie “A Beautiful Mind.” Golden also appeared on TV with Kim Peek, who inspired the movie “Rain Man.” They even worked on math problems together!

A newspaper once called Golden “a kind of mathematical Indiana Jones.” This was because of his exciting and sometimes dangerous trips to the polar regions. This comparison was also mentioned in a Scientific American article.

Awards and Honors

• 1989: Excellence in Teaching Award, Princeton University
• 1996: Fellow of the Electromagnetics Academy for his great work in electromagnetics.
• 2007: University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award.
• 2011: Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). This was for his amazing work on the math of sea ice.
• 2012: Myriad Faculty Award for Research Excellence, for helping students with research.
• 2012: University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly & Creative Research Award.
• 2013: Inaugural Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
• 2014: United States Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal.
• 2014: Fellow of the Explorers Club.
• 2022–24: First ever University of Utah Presidential Societal Impact Scholar Award.
• 2023: Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Prize in Teaching, University of Utah.