Pamela E. Harris facts for kids

Pamela Estephania Harris (born November 28, 1983) is a Mexican-American mathematician and teacher. She also helps people who have moved to a new country. She is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Before that, she taught at Williams College. Pamela Harris also helped start 'Lathisms', a website that celebrates Latinx and Hispanic mathematicians. She is also an editor for a blog by the American Mathematical Society.

Pamela Harris's Early Life and Education

Pamela Harris moved from Mexico to the United States with her family when she was 8 years old. They went back to Mexico, but later settled in Wisconsin when she was 12. Because she did not have the official papers to live in the US, she could not go to a regular university at first.

Instead, she studied at the Milwaukee Area Technical College. There, she earned two associate degrees very quickly. After she married a US citizen, her immigration status changed. This meant she could then go to Marquette University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She then continued her studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She earned her master's degree and then her PhD in 2012. Her PhD research was guided by Jeb F. Willenbring.

Pamela Harris's Career and Work

After finishing her studies, Pamela Harris became a fellow with Project NExT in 2012. This program helps new math teachers. She was also a research fellow at the United States Military Academy. In 2016, she joined the teachers at Williams College. In 2022, she became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Pamela Harris studies a field of math called algebraic combinatorics. This area looks at how to count and arrange things. She is especially interested in how certain math structures, called Lie algebras, work. To understand this, she studies special math functions. She also enjoys graph theory, which uses graphs to solve problems, and number theory, which studies numbers.

In 2016, she helped create 'Lathisms'. This online platform shares the amazing work of Latinx and Hispanic people in math. In 2020, she co-wrote a book called "Asked and Answered: Dialogues On Advocating For Students of Color in Mathematics." Pamela Harris also has a podcast with Aris Winger called "Mathematically Uncensored." They talk about issues that minority groups face in math.

Awards and Recognition

Pamela Harris has received many awards for her work and teaching. In 2019, she won the Mathematical Association of America Henry L. Alder Award. This award is for excellent teaching by new college math teachers. She won it because she helps students with their research. She also works hard to make the math community welcoming for everyone.

In 2020, she was chosen as one of the first Karen EDGE Fellows. She also received an award for mentoring young teachers from the Council of Undergraduate Research. In 2022, she won the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.

She was a special speaker at the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings. She also spoke at the national conference for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) in 2019. In 2022, she was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This honor was for her work in math, for guiding student researchers, and for helping make the math community fairer for all. Also in 2022, she became a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics. This was for her great leadership in creating programs that support women and minority groups in math.

In 2018, Pamela Harris was featured in a book called Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics.

See also

In Spanish: Pamela E. Harris para niños