Count Me In

Welcome to Count Me In with Della and Deanna. Today we feature a thoughtful conversation with Dr. Edray Goins, Professor of mathematics at Pomona, College. Edray grew up in South Los Angeles and earned his undergraduate degrees in mathematics and physics at the California Institute of Technology and his PhD in mathematics from Stanford. He has held appointments at the National Security Agency, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Max Planck Institute, among others. He invests most of his summers advancing underrepresented groups in mathematics. In this conversation, you will learn about how the confluence of extraordinary professors and forward thinking administrators can shape a student, how leadership opportunities in middle school can segue to leadership later and throughout life, and how Edray’s personal experiences inspire some very helpful advice for college students. . So, please join us as we talk with Edray.

Welcome to Count Me In with Della and Deanna. Today we feature an energizing conversation with Tara Holm, Professor and chair of mathematics at Cornell University. Tara grew up in Pennsylvania and earned her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College and her PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work in symplectic geometry and its connections with other fields has taken her to the Clay Mathematics Institute as a Liftoff Mathematician, to the University of California Berkely as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow and Visting Asst Prof, to Oxford University as a Simons Fellow, and to the Institute for Advanced Study as a von Neumann Fellow. In this conversation, you will hear about her encouraging and heroic high school teacher who created opportunities for her to learn Calc II and multi-variable calculus, her work on the Boards and Councils of various organizations in mathematics, her tips for sustaining a research program while serving as chair of a vibrant department, and her observation that “someone, somewhere in the world is doing something interesting in mathematics in their classroom.” Tara’s energy for mathematics is infectious and you will leave the podcast ready to take your next step in the discipline, no matter where you are in your journey. So, please join us as we talk with Tara.

Welcome to Count Me In with Della and Deanna. Today we feature an energizing and vibrant conversation with Dr. Kobi Abayomi, Head of Science at Gumbel Demand Acceleration.

Kobi grew up in NYC, in a 6th-floor walkup in Manhattan. He earned his undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech and his PhD in Probability and Statistics from Columbia University. He held postdoctoral positions at Duke and Stanford Universities and academic positions at various institutions including Georgia Tech and Binghamton University before he segued to industry where he has worked at Dunn & Bradstreet, Barnes & Noble Education, Warner Media Group, and, most recently as, Senior VP of Data Science at Warner Music Group. In March of 2023, he launched his own company, Gumbel Demand Acceleration, a Software as a Service company, along with two music labels: Betaside Records and Short Hills Music. In this conversation, you will hear how Kobi evaluates a Toyota Corolla as a beautiful human enterprise rather than a vehicle that moves us from one point to another. You will also learn about the evolving role of music in his life and in society as a whole, the role of his mother in cultivating his interest in mathematics, the surprising way lighting can help us see people differently, and tips for bringing people together. Drawing from his work experience, Kobi also talks about how to contribute to and lead a group of data scientists. Kobi’s joy for mathematics and people is everywhere evident in this podcast. It will put a spring in your step and give a boost to your spirit. So, please join us as we talk with Kobi.

Welcome to Count Me In with Della and Deanna. Today we feature an exciting conversation with Dr. Ranthony Edmonds, an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Mathematics at The Ohio State University. Ranthony earned her undergraduate degrees in mathematics and English from the University of Kentucky, her masters degree in mathematics from Eastern Kentucky university, and her PhD in mathematics from the University of Iowa in 2018. Her broad research interests include commutative ring theory, applied algebraic topology, data science, and math education. After earning her PhD, Ranthony joined the faculty at Ohio State University as a Ross Assistant Professor, she then segued to a Postdoctoral Research position, and, most recently she was awarded an NSF Postroctoral research appointment. She helps lead the “Hidden Figures Revealed” project which explores the black mathematicians who graduated from the Ohio State University. She also currently serves as an Associate Editor at the American Mathematical Monthly. In this vibrant conversation, you will learn about the importance of the environments where we learn mathematics, the challenges of being “the only one” in a particular space, the importance of meetings and conferences, , the value of seeing people who look like you, and the significance of a single moment. Ranthony’s love for mathematics and her ongoing commitment to making it available to any one, will inspire and encourage you. So, please join us as we talk with Ranthony.

Welcome to Count Me In with Della and Deanna. Today we feature a lively conversation with Dr. Edward Burger, President and CEO of St. David’s Foundation in Austin, Texas. Ed earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Connecticut College and his PhD in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He held a postdoctoral position at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He spent 23 years on the faculty at Williams College where he received a number of awards for his teaching, including the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished Teaching from the Mathematical Assocaition of America, the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching from Baylor University, and a Global Hero in Education Designation from Microsoft Corporation, among many others. His mathematical research focuses on Number Theory. In 2013, he became the 15th president of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. In Januray, 2020, he assumed the role of President and CEO of St. David’s Foundation in Austin, Texas. In this conversation, you will learn about Ed’s successful strategy for making friends in college (spoiler alert: it involves standing in line), a single moment that changed the trajectory of his life, how he links finding vocation with finding yourself, about life as a college president, and about how the skills of mathematics transfer to many professions. Ed’s love for mathematics and its potential for our lives will inspire and encourage you. So, please join us as we talk with Ed.