Amy Buchmann and Hwayeon Ryu are the inaugural recipients of the Mary Beth Ruskai Research Fund for Women, established by the EDGE Foundation, and Mariana Smit Vega Garcia is the Karen EDGE fellow.
Buchmann is an associate professor in the mathematics department at the University of San Diego. She did her undergraduate studies in mathematics at Chapman University and earned her PhD from the department of applied and computational mathematics and statistics at the University of Notre Dame. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of mathematics and center for computational science at Tulane University.
Buchmann studies complex biological systems using mathematical and computational models. The focus of her research is computational fluid dynamics, and she is particularly interested in creating mechanical models of microorganisms to study their coordinated behavior and interactions with their environment.
Ryu is an associate professor of mathematics at Elon University. She earned her BS in mathematics from Korea University in South Korea in 2008 and her MA and PhD in mathematics from Duke University in 2011 and 2014, respectively. She is a 2016 MAA Project NExT Fellow and recent recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award by a Beginning College Mathematics Faculty Member recognized by the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America. Ryu is the faculty lead for organizing a regional STEM conference for undergraduate students in collaboration with Wake Forest University and recently began serving as a faculty adviser for a student planning committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics Elon Student Chapter.
Ryu’s research interests are in mathematical modeling and analysis of dynamical systems arising from disciplines such as systems biology, neuroscience, and immunology. Her current work on mathematical modeling of immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is supported by the National Science Foundation research grant. She serves as a sole principal investigator.
Smit Vega Garcia earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. She then earned her PhD in mathematics from Purdue University in 2014. She was a post-doc in Germany and at the University of Washington. In 2018, she joined Western Washington University as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2021. Her research has been funded by the NSF, which also allowed her to fund a conference (Jumpstart 2023) focused on first-generation students interested in mathematics. In 2023, she received the Peter J. Elich Excellence in Teaching Award, which is the highest teaching award available to faculty members at Western Washington University.
The Karen EDGE fellowship will help Smit Vega Garcia enhance her research program by allowing her to travel to meet collaborators and present her work at conferences while maintaining her commitment to her students and building a supportive mathematical community.
With a bequest from the estate of Mary Beth Ruskai, the foundation established the Mary Beth Ruskai Research Fund for Women. Every year, two grants of $5,000 are awarded to women in the mathematical sciences for a 12-month grant period. The award helps advance their research careers through travel, collaboration, or other activities. The scope of these grants reflects Ruskai’s commitment to women and interdisciplinary work.
The Karen EDGE Fellowship Program was established with a gift from Karen Uhlenbeck on the occasion of her 2019 Abel Prize. The fellowship supports and enhances the research programs and collaborations of mid-career mathematicians who are members of an underrepresented group.
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