Nalini Joshi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nalini Joshi
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Nalini Joshi in 2014
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| Born |
Yangon, Myanmar
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Known for | Research in integrable systems |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics, integrable systems |
| Institutions | University of Sydney University of Adelaide University of New South Wales |
| Thesis | The Connection Problem for the First and Second Painlevé Transcendents (1987) |
| Doctoral advisor | Martin David Kruskal |
Nalini Joshi is a super smart Australian mathematician! She is a professor at the University of Sydney in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. She was the very first woman to hold this important position there. She also used to be the president of the Australian Mathematical Society.
Professor Joshi is part of a research group that studies something called integrable systems. These are special kinds of math problems that have very neat and predictable solutions. In 2012, she received a special award called the Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellowship. She is also the Vice-President of the International Mathematical Union, and she's the first Australian ever to have this role!
Contents
Early Life and Adventures
Nalini Joshi was born and grew up in Burma (now called Myanmar). She had a really interesting childhood!
In 2007, she shared what it was like:
My father was in the army and I grew up near jungles with wild animals. I had the freedom to explore all day long so long as I went to school and that's what I actually seek every time I look at mathematics; it's an adventure, an exploration, forging new paths into territories nobody else has looked at before.
—Nalini Joshi (2007)
This shows how much she loves exploring, both in nature and in mathematics!
Education Journey
Nalini Joshi went to Fort Street High School. She then studied at the University of Sydney, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree with honors in 1980.
After that, she went all the way to Princeton University in the United States to get her PhD. Her main teacher there was a famous mathematician named Martin David Kruskal. Her PhD project was about a complex math problem called The Connection Problem for the First and Second Painlevé Transcendents.
Amazing Career in Math
After finishing her PhD, Nalini Joshi continued her research.
- From 1987 to 1990, she worked at the Australian National University.
- Then, from 1990 to 1997, she was a lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. She was promoted to senior lecturer in 1994.
In 1997, she won a special research fellowship from the Australian Research Council. She took this fellowship to the University of Adelaide, where she became an associate professor a year later.
In 2002, she moved to the University of Sydney. There, she became the Chair of Applied Mathematics. From 2006, she directed the Centre for Mathematical Biology. She also led the School of Mathematics and Statistics from 2007 to 2009.
Supporting Women in STEM
In 2015, Professor Joshi helped start a very important program called Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE). This program helps more women stay and succeed in STEM fields. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The SAGE program uses ideas from the Athena SWAN principles to make things fairer. Since 2016, she has been a member of the SAGE Expert Advisory Group, helping guide the program.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Nalini Joshi has received many awards and honors for her amazing work in mathematics.
- In March 2008, she was chosen as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. This is a very high honor for scientists in Australia.
- She also held many important roles in the Australian Mathematical Society, including being its president from December 2008 to September 2010.
- She was on the board of the Australian Mathematics Trust from 2010 to 2013.
- Since January 2010, she has been on the National Committee for Mathematical Sciences.
In 2012, she became a Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellow. This award supported her five-year project called Geometric construction of critical solutions of nonlinear systems.
In 2015, she was the 150th Anniversary Hardy Lecturer. This is an award from the London Mathematical Society that involved her giving many lectures across the United Kingdom. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN). In June 2016, she was given the title of Officer of the Order of Australia. This is a very special award from the Australian government.
In July 2018, Professor Joshi was elected vice-president of the International Mathematical Union. In October 2019, she was recognized in the NSW Premier's Prizes for "Excellence in Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry or Physics."
In 2020, she received the George Szekeres Medal from the Australian Mathematical Society. In 2021, she was awarded the ANZIAM Medal by Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics. This award recognized her huge contributions to applied mathematics, especially her leadership, work for gender equality, and promoting mathematics.
See also
In Spanish: Nalini Joshi para niños
