UnitedStates

19
May
2021
Candice Price

Candice Price

Born in Long Beach, CA, USA • Birth year 1980 • Studied Mathematics at The University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, USA • Highest Degree PhD in Mathematics • Lives in Northampton, MA, USA • Occupation Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Smith College

I first fell in love with mathematics in the 3rd grade. It was by pure coincidence though. You see in the 3rd grade I learned how to multiply. Now we did not learn through the tangible way of repeated addition, but with music and memorization. Both of these pedagogical choices stimulated my interest in two ways: my love of music and my competitiveness. Let me elaborate a bit about this.

My whole family is very musical. My maternal grandfather was in a DooWop group named “The Mellows”. He taught my mother to sing, which translated to me singing in the church choir with my siblings. My father constantly played music in our home, especially on his record player. My sister and brother made music a part of their careers and I listen to music any chance I get. Needless to say music played a huge positive role in my life, and still does. So when my teacher played the SchoolHouse Rock multiplication videos for us in class, I was instantly sold! I still sing the song “3 is a magic number” sometimes. I got to see that music could play a large role in learning mathematics. It made mathematics fun and enjoyable. It also helped me memorize the multiplication table because I had memorized the lyrics. This helped with my competitive nature.

Looking at those celebrated in mathematics, I didn’t see someone that looked like me.

I think it is no secret that when learning multiplication, students are often subjected to timed “times table” tests. This was a test or quiz or even just an assignment where you had to fill out a sheet of multiplication problems in maybe around 5 minutes. Oddly, I thrived on this type of competition. It wasn’t a competition with my classmates, but a competition with myself. How many “times-tables” could I remember? How fast could I write them all down? Would I improve my previous score? I think this competitive nature pushed me to love the act of learning, keeping me excited about understanding things at a deeper level. I will also say that this competitive nature has also led to my trivia team, Juneteenth Wreath LLC, being 4 time trivia champs across 2 different platforms #humblebrag.

While this was the first experience I had that created a love of mathematics, I didn’t stay in love. I have walked away from mathematics when I felt that it was not the place for me. Looking at those celebrated in mathematics, I didn’t see someone that looked like me. I assumed that meant that no matter how much I loved math, it did not love me back. (I was a bit of a dramatic teenager.) While I came back to mathematics and made it my career, it wasn’t until recently that I felt like I had a place in mathematics. I would often tell folks “I am a mathematics professor, but I don’t see myself as a mathematician”. The distinction was that while I enjoyed teaching and talking about mathematics, did I think about it on the level that most “mathematicians” do? No. I didn’t enjoy research too much, although I loved working with my collaborators. I didn’t enjoy watching research talks, unless I knew the speaker. I would also be so nervous giving talks, always a bit unsure if I was painting the correct picture. But recently this has all changed.

If today Candice could talk to 3rd grade Candice about this great path through mathematics she is going to venture on, I would tell her about the ups and downs.

I have met so many amazing people who are also mathematicians. Many, but not all, are from minoritized groups in the mathematics community, all forging ahead creating their own definition of what it means to be a mathematician. This community helped me finish my PhD in Mathematics at the University of Iowa, supported me through my postdoctoral work at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and been a great guide through multiple career decisions/milestones I have made/passed, including starting a tenure track position at Smith College and receiving tenure and promotion. If today Candice could talk to 3rd grade Candice about this great path through mathematics she is going to venture on, I would tell her about the ups and downs. Let her know that she is stronger and more clever than she knows. And that she is a mathematician, that she became one that day. I would also give her a small reminder that it is ok to not always be super excited about something– except for music, that is a love that never dies.

Posted by HMS in Stories
21
Apr
2021
Jamie Prezioso

Jamie Prezioso

Born in Warren, Ohio, United State • Birth year 1989 • Studied Applied Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States • Lives in Washington, D.C. United States • currently a Research Scientist

Growing up, I genuinely enjoyed math from an early age. I have fond memories of solving equations and homemade arithmetic flash cards with my grandfather. He consistently and lovingly encouraged me to pursue math. And so, I did.

I had an inclination that studying mathematics would open an array of opportunities, however, I had no tangible examples of this. Nevertheless, I was drawn to pursue math.

I happily studied and excelled in mathematics throughout middle and high school. When choosing a major in college, I did not even consider math. Having never seen or learned about modern-day mathematicians in school or media, I was unaware of this entire profession. Since I was also interested in medicine, I considered studying biology. I knew of clear academic and career paths in the medical field. Ultimately, my first year in college I was undecided. I had an inclination that studying mathematics would open an array of opportunities, however, I had no tangible examples of this. Nevertheless, I was drawn to pursue math. And so, I did.

I began to discover the ways you could use mathematics to solve problems I found interesting and important, like quantifying the effects of climate change or modeling predator-prey dynamics in fragile ecosystems. I graduated from Walsh University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics. When applying for graduate programs, I had every intention of obtaining a Master’s degree in a few years and leaving the program for industry. The thought of being in school for nearly all of my twenties seemed unbearable, if not impossible. I did not want to wait for my professional career, and in some sense my “adult” personal life, to begin. Still, I was excited to pursue math. And so, I did.

Through coursework and research, I found I was truly passionate about math. I developed strong quantitative modeling and coding skills. I even got to study areas of biology and medicine.

In the Fall of 2012, I began graduate school at Case Western Reserve University. I studied applied mathematics, taught Calculus to bright undergraduates and conducted research in mathematics and computational neuroscience. It was in graduate school where I grew both personally and professionally. I had many wonderful experiences with brilliant mathematicians from all over the world, many of whom I am still close with today. Through coursework and research, I found I was truly passionate about math. I developed strong quantitative modeling and coding skills. I even got to study areas of biology and medicine. I gained confidence in myself and a deeper understanding of mathematics. And so, I obtained a PhD in Applied Mathematics.

I use my background in mathematics to research machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) models […]

Now, I am an Applied Mathematician. I am a Research Scientist at a consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area. I use my background in mathematics to research machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) models, focusing on interpretability and explainability. While AI/ML models have proven extremely useful on a variety of tasks, their inherent black-box nature and lack of interpretability limits their use in critical applications, like medicine or autonomous driving. Specifically, I research and develop neural networks, mathematical models which are typically highly over-parameterized but have exhibited superior performance on high dimensional data (e.g. images), trying to better understand how these models make predictions, assess their confidence and incorporate prior expert knowledge.

I feel very fortunate to have a career which aligns with my field of study and allows me to work on problems I am passionate and excited about. I hope that my story, and the stories of the other women here, highlight the vast number of exciting opportunities and careers in mathematics, the careers that I was unaware of for so long.

Posted by HMS in Stories