If you have an questions about Spectra, ideas for events or programs, or co-sponsorship opportunities, feel free to email the board.

Mike Hill is the Ordway Professor at the University of Minnesota in the topology group, specializing in algebraic topology. He did his graduate work at MIT before moving to UVA, where he was first a postdoc and then a faculty member. He then worked at UCLA before joining the faculty at Minnesota in 2024.

Juliette Bruce is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at Dartmouth College.. Her research interests include algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and arithmetic geometry. She completed her Ph.D. in mathematics in 2020 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Previously she was a postdoctoral fellow at MSRI (2020-2021), an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley (2020-2022), and a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Mathematics at Brown University (2022-2024).

David Crombecque is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from USC and previously, a Master’s in Mathematics from the Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France. His research interests are in Contact Geometry and Knot Theory. His focus on the pedagogy of Mathematics concerns Inquiry Based Learning for undergraduate students as well as professional development for middle school and high school Mathematics teachers.

Since 2009, David has been a board member of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) where he also represents the Mathematics Caucus and organizes the evaluation committee for the annual Out To Innovate undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

Benjamin Jany is a postdoctoral researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology specializing in algebraic coding theory and matroid theory. He received his PhD at the University of Kentucky in 2023. He was a founder and the president of the Spectra Chapter at the University of Kentucky, and an organizer of the 2023 Spectra Survey of Mathematics Conference held at the University of Kentucky.

Hi y'all, I'm Dev, a fifth-year graduate student in applied math at Princeton, where I focus on natural algorithms and dynamic graphs under the delightful advisement of Bernard Chazelle. Throughout my career, I’ve been blessed with supportive mentors in school and in industry, so I’m hoping to pass it forward by serving on the Spectra Board. If I’m not at my desk, you can find me in the parks of New York City with my dog, Macaroni.

Stephan Patterson is an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University Shreveport. He is an applied mathematician who will use any potentially helpful area of mathematics, which thus far has included tools from optimization, data science, statistics, computer science, graph theory, and numerical analysis. They completed a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado Denver in 2020; more recently, they have co-authored two OER textbooks. When not at school, he can be found playing with his young son, experimenting in the kitchen, or with his head in a book.

Alexander Hoover (he/him) is an assistant professor of applied mathematics at Cleveland State University. Research wise, he is a mathematical biologist and fluid dynamicist, with a speciality in leveraging computational fluid dynamics frameworks to answer questions pertaining to biomechanics and fluid transport. He is an active member in the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the American Physical Society (APS), and the Society of Mathematical Biology (SMB) professional societies, having organized minisymposia and conferences geared toward queer applied mathematicians, including the organizing of the Queer in Computational and Applied Mathematics (QCAM) workshops. In his free time, he loves to garden at home, tend to the neighborhood cats, and can be found at the beach when it's not frigid in Cleveland

Hi, I’m Alex Wiedemann, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Randolph-Macon College. My main areas of interest are operator theory, mathematical physics, and (spectral) graph theory. I am especially interested in interdisciplinary questions which use tools from these fields in unexpected ways. More broadly, I seek to understand the interplay between continuous and discrete structures. I am also interested in the roles of diversity and inclusivity mathematics, and in the development of teaching practices which better serve students from historically underrepresented groups.

AJ Fong is a first-year PhD student in Pure Mathematics of the wonderful David McKinnon at Waterloo, where he works on algebraic geometry and number theory. He likes to dance (performance) and play contract bridge.

Matthew Cordes is an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University specializing in geometric group theory. He received his PhD in Mathematics from Brandeis University and had postdocs at the Technion and ETH Zurich. He is also interested in understanding the ethics of mathematics and has developed a curriculum and taught a course on the ethics of mathematics at ETH..

Ian Coley is a mathematician-turned-consultant working for the Boston Consulting Group in their San Diego office. He received his PhD from UCLA in 2019, concentrating in higher category theory and algebraic K-theory, then moved on to a postdoc at Rutgers University from 2019 - 2022. These days he does very little pure mathematics, but applies abstract reasoning skills to business contexts and helps PhDs across disciplines find their path forward when academia no longer fits.

Spectra has a Board of 4 appointed members each serving 4 year terms. The current Board members are

• Ron Buckmire
• Emily Riehl
• Julie Blackwood
• Dev Dabke

• Joseph Nakao - Membership Chair (2022-2024)
• Moon Duchin - Board Member (2015 - 2022)
• Concha Gomez - Board Member (2015 - 2022)
• Douglas Lind - Board Member (2015 - 2022)
• Emily Riehl - Board Member (2015 - 2019, 2023)
• Lily Khadjavi - Board Member (2015 - 2022)
• Ron Buckmire - Board Member (2015 - 2023)
• Chris Goff - Board Member (2015 - 2023)