mathematics

Pamela E. Harris

Pamela E. Harris is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pamela E. Harris rather than just read about it. In short: Pamela Estephania Harris (born November 28, 1983) is a Mexican-American mathematician, educator and advocate for immigrants. She is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was formerly an associate professor at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and is co-founder of the online platform Lathisms.

Key takeaways

Pamela E. Harris belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pamela E. Harris to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pamela E. Harris from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pamela Estephania Harris (born November 28, 1983) is a Mexican-American mathematician, educator and advocate for immigrants. She is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was formerly an associate professor at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and is co-founder of the online platform Lathisms. She is also an editor of the e-mentoring blog of the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Early life and career Harris first emigrated with her family from Mexico to the United States when she was 8 years old. They returned to Mexico, before eventually settling in Wisconsin when Harris was 12. Because she was undocumented, she could not attend university. Instead, she studied at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, where she earned two associate degrees in two and a half years. After she married a US citizen and her immigration status changed, she transferred to Marquette University, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She went on to complete her master's degree and in 2012 a PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her Ph.D. dissertation was advised by Jeb F. Willenbring. Harris was a Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) fellow in 2012. She was a Davies Research Fellow at the United States Military Academy, and, in 2016, joined the faculty at Williams College where she was an associate professor. In 2022, she joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as an associate professor. Harris studies algebraic combinatorics, in particular the representation of Lie algebras. In order to understand this representation she studies vector partition functions, in particular Kostant's partition function. She is also interested in graph theory and number theory. In 2016 she co-founded an online platform called 'Lathisms' which aims to promote the contributions of Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences. In 2020 she co-authored the book "Asked and Answered: Dialogues On Advocating For Students of Color in Mathematics". Harris, along with Aris Winger, run a podcast, Mathematically Uncensored, through the Center for Minorities in the Mathematical Sciences. Starting in October 2020, they discussed current issues in mathematics that minorities encounter.

Recognition In 2020, Harris was selected as part of the inaugural class of Karen EDGE Fellows. In 2019, Harris won the Mathematical Association of America Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member, for her mentorship towards undergraduate research and for being a "fierce advocate for a diverse and inclusive mathematics community." She further received the early career Faculty Mentor Award from the Council of Undergraduate Research in the Mathematics and Computer Sciences Division. She was a 2022 winner of the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. She gave one of the Mathematical Association of America Invited Addresses at the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings. In 2019 she was a featured speaker at the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, in the 2022 class of fellows, "for contributions to algebraic combinatorics, for mentorship of undergraduate researchers, and for contributions to a more equitable and inclusive mathematical community". In 2022 she will become a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics, "For exceptional leadership in establishing programs and mentoring networks that support, encourage, and advance women and underrepresented minorities in the mathematical sciences; and for contributions through public speaking that create positive systemic change in the culture and climate of the mathematics profession." In 2018 Harris was featured in the book Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics.

References

External links Personal webpage Curriculum vitae Meet a Mathematician! Video interview Carrington, Léolène (January 22, 2018). "#WCWinSTEM: Pamela E. Harris, Ph.D. (interview)". Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pamela E. Harris

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pamela E. Harris claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pamela E. Harris before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pamela E. Harris ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pamela E. Harris

In research: Pamela E. Harris appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pamela E. Harris in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pamela E. Harris is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 births, 21st-century American mathematicians, 21st-century American women mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pamela E. Harris outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pamela E. Harris in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pamela E. Harris means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pamela E. Harris out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pamela E. Harris in simple terms?

Why does Pamela E. Harris matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pamela E. Harris?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pamela E. Harris.