Diversity and Outreach

The Department of Mathematics values diversity and is committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive climate. The resources and items below highlight some of the department's work towards inclusion.

STEM Celebration of MLK

The annual STEM Celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. took place on February 25, 2022.  It was a presentation and discussion with special guest, Tracy Jon Sargeant of the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa.  More information can be found here.


Junior Math Scholars

The Department of Mathematics of the University of Iowa offers an enrichment program for Junior High School Students.  More information can be found here.   


USTARS 2022

USTARS 2022 will be held at the University of Iowa during the weekend of TBD (a new date will be announced soon), supported by the Sloan Center at Iowa. Please see the webpage for information about the conference and a link to apply to participate (February 1 deadline). https://www.ustars.org/

This is the 10th anniversary of a very successful NSF-funded conference that was originally founded by U Iowa Math/AMCS PhD students, who now serve as the advisory board to a new generation of organizers.


Diverse Perspectives in the Mathematical Sciences Course Offered

In Fall 2021, Associate Professor of Instruction Margaret Murray is offering for the first time, MATH:1210 Diverse Perspectives in the Mathematical Sciences. MATH:1210 is a 3 credit hour online-web-based course that can be taken by any UI undergraduate to satisfy the Diversity & Inclusion requirement of the General Education program.

The course has no college-level prerequisites, but assumes some experience with math and science at the high school level. While the course is designed to be open and accessible to everyone, it's likely to be of particular interest to students in STEM fields.

As a participant in this course, you will examine, in detail, specific life stories and accomplishments of diverse contributors to the quantitative sciences, including the challenges they faced and the factors that led to their success. You will continually revisit your own “mathematical life story” and your prior beliefs about mathematics, revising them, as necessary, to incorporate a larger vision of the mathematical sciences and the people who do mathematical work.

Additional information, including a descriptive video, may be found on MyUI at https://myui.uiowa.edu/my-ui/courses/details.page?ci=173062&id=960705


Council of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Mathematics

The committee for 2022 - 2023 can be found here.

 


Math Platoon

Math Platoon is a collaboration between Dr. Colleen Mitchell of the Department of Mathematics and IVETS. When Dr. Mitchell's husband, a Marine Corps Veteran, heard about IVETS's call for math professors to start a tutoring program, he told her how much of a difference this program would have made when he returned to college for his degree in engineering. She decided to make the program a reality.

Dr. Mitchell and a team of graduate students began holding twice-weekly tutoring sessions for military-connected students in January 2020. The meetings moved to Zoom when the university switched to virtual instruction in March 2021, but are now fully in-person again for the Fall 2021 semester.

Math Platoon meets twice a week in 208 Calvin Hall:

9:30 to 11:00 am on Tuesdays

11:00 am to 12:30 pm on Fridays

The sessions begin on 24 January, 2023.


Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Student Chapter

The Association for Women in Mathematics is an organization promoting diversity within the relating fields of mathematics. All majors and genders are welcome!

The goal of our local chapter is to empower women and create a sense of community. Follow us on Instagram @uiowa_awm!


Women in Mathematics Colloqium Series

The aim of the colloquium series is to highlight significant creative works by female mathematicians in the US. The colloquia is funded by the NSF (DMS-1844267). The upcoming colloquia can be found here.


7th Midwest Women in Mathematics Symposium

The 7th Midwest Women in Mathematics Symposium (WiMS) took place at the University of Iowa on April 13, 2019. The Midwest Women in Math Symposium is an annual one-day event that started in 2013. The symposium is open to everyone, regardless of affiliation, age, or gender. The 7th Symposium focuses on four areas of mathematics: algebra, analysis PDE, math biology, and geometry topology.  

For more information about the event, please visit the event's website.


Women in Mathematics at the University of Iowa

The mission of Women in Mathematics (WIM) at the University of Iowa is to foster the success of women in math at all levels from undergraduate through faculty. WIM strives to encourage women mathematicians through mentoring relationships and monthly activities. These activities include invited speakers, lunches, and informal outings.  We provide an opportunity for interaction with outstanding women mathematicians and a supportive community for women in the department. More information can be found here.


Spotlight on the Department of Mathematics and 14 Years of Celebrating Sonia Kovalevsky Day

The Department of Mathematics recently hosted the 14th Annual Sonia Kovalevsky Day to recruit more women into mathematics and STEM-related fields. The Daily Iowan recognized SK Day, the department, and the event's organizers. [Read more]


Department of Mathematics Minority Program Highlighted

U of I Mathematics minority program highlighted in Chronicle of Higher Education article. See the article "Getting Minority Ph.D. Students to the Finish Line" at http://www.chronicle.com.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/article/Getting-Minority-PhD/239857


U of I's Ph.D. Diversity Efforts, Boosted by Sloan Grant, Featured

The University of Iowa's University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) aims to increase diversity in the graduate student community. The UCEM is one of only five such centers in the US and is funded by a $1.2 milliion Sloan Foundation Grant. [Read more]


Philip Kutzko Receives 2014 AMS Award for Distinguished Public Service

Philip Kutzko, professor of mathematics at the University of Iowa, is receiving the 2014 AMS Award for Distinguished Public Service. Presented every two years by the American Mathematical Society, the award is given to a research mathematician who has made a distinguished contribution to the mathematics profession during the preceding five years. The prize will be awarded on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore.

Kutzko was chosen "for his leadership of a national effort to increase the number of doctoral degrees in the mathematical sciences earned by students from underrepresented groups." He is one of several faculty in the university's Department of Mathematics who undertook, in 1995, to increase minority representation in its graduate program. In this role, he has served as director of the department’s Sloan Foundation Minority Scholarship Program. As a result of this departmental effort, more than 25 US citizens of minority backgrounds have earned PhD’s in mathematics at the University of Iowa since 2001. Kutzko and colleagues from mathematics and statistics departments at the three Iowa Regents universities founded the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences. He has served as its director since its founding and has written the proposals to NSF through which the Alliance is funded. The Alliance has enlisted 26 graduate programs, a larger number of undergraduate programs, over 900 students, and 250 faculty mentors from 90 colleges and universities around the U.S. [Read more]


UI Department of Mathematics Honored for Minority Doctoral Work

The University of Iowa Department of Mathematics will write another chapter in its renowned history of supporting minority doctoral degrees when it, in coordination with the UI Graduate College’s Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences (AMCS) program, awards seven doctorates to members of underrepresented minority groups during 2012. [Read more]


UI Mathematics Professor Recieves 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence

President Barack Obama has named University of Iowa mathematics professor Philip Kutzko as a recipient of a prestigious 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.


UI Mathematics Department Wins National Award for Minority Recruitment

The University of Iowa Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has received one of the most prestigious awards of its kind -- the 2008 AMS Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department from the American Mathematical Society (AMS). The award cites the department as "a national leader in recruiting and developing underrepresented U.S. minority doctoral students in mathematics."

Read the article in Notices, a publication of the AMS, here: http://www.ams.org/notices/200805/tx080500599p.pdf