Raegan Higgins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raegan J. Higgins
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| Born | Baton Rouge, LA |
| Known for | Work with the EDGE program |
| Scientific career | |
| Doctoral advisor | Allan Clemens Peterson and Lynn Erbe |
Raegan J. Higgins is an American mathematician. She helps lead the EDGE program for women. This program supports women who want to study math in college and have careers in math. She also helped start a website called Mathematically Gifted & Black. This website celebrates the achievements of Black mathematicians.
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Exploring Math and Biology
Dr. Higgins studies something called time scales. This is a special area of math. She uses this math to understand things in biology. For example, she might use math to study how diseases spread.
Her Journey in Education
Raegan Higgins went to Xavier University of Louisiana. This university is in New Orleans, Louisiana. After that, she went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There, she studied for her advanced degrees.
She worked with two professors, Lynn Erbe and Allan Clemens Peterson. In 2008, she earned her doctoral degree. She was one of the first two African-American women to get a math doctorate from that university.
Her Career in Mathematics
Dr. Higgins is a co-director of the EDGE program. She works with Ami Radunskaya to lead it. This program helps women who are studying math in graduate school. It also helps them find jobs in math.
Dr. Higgins was part of the EDGE program herself in 2002. She was a student back then. Later, she helped teach workshops for the program from 2014 to 2017. She became a co-director in 2017.
In 2008, Dr. Higgins started teaching at Texas Tech University. She joined the Department of Mathematics & Statistics. She later became an Associate Professor. This meant she earned tenure, which is a permanent teaching position. She was the first African American to get tenure in that department at Texas Tech.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Higgins has received many awards for her work. In 2020, she won a service award from the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). She also won the 2021 AWM Gweneth Humphreys Award.
She has received several grants from the National Science Foundation. These grants help fund her work in math education. In 2021, she gave a special speech at the National Math Festival.
In 2018, the website Mathematically Gifted & Black honored Dr. Higgins. They recognized her achievements during Black History Month.
