June 16, 2020
Mathematics professor Tatiana Toro honored by Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute
Tatiana Toro
The Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute has named UW mathematics professor Tatiana Toro the recipient of its 2020 Blackwell-Tapia Prize.
The institute, called SAMSI for short, was established in 2002 and is a partnership among Duke University, North Carolina State University at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Its mission is “to forge a synthesis of the statistical sciences and the applied mathematical sciences with disciplinary science to confront the very hardest and most important data- and model-driven scientific challenges.”
The Blackwell-Tapia Award, too, began in 2002. Given in even-numbered years, it is named for mathematical and statistical experts David Blackwell, the first African American elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and Richard Tapia, winner of the 2010 National Medal of Science. The award recognizes “excellence in research among people who have promoted diversity within the mathematical and statistical sciences.”
Toro is the Craig McKibben and Sarah Merner Professor in Mathematics. She received the UW’s Distinguished Graduate Mentor award in 2019 and was named to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in May.
“She is an analyst whose work lies at the interface of geometric measure theory, harmonic analysis and partial differential equations,” the institute said in a news release.
“Her work focuses on understanding mathematical questions that arise in an environment where known data are very rough. The main premise of her work is that under the right lens, objects which at first glance might appear to very irregular, do exhibit quantifiable regular characteristics.”
The award is normally presented during a ceremony at the Blackwell-Tapia Conference. Conference plans are under discussion due to the novel coronavirus.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Mathematics • Tatiana Toro
