Biography:Jessica Sklar
Jessica Katherine Sklar (born 1973)[1] is a mathematician interested in abstract algebra, recreational mathematics, mathematics and art, and mathematics and popular culture. She is a professor of mathematics at Pacific Lutheran University, and former head of the mathematics department at Pacific Lutheran.[2]
Education and career
As a high school student, Sklar studied poetry at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She did her undergraduate studies at Swarthmore College, where her mother Elizabeth S. had earned a degree in English (later becoming an English professor at Wayne State University) and her father Lawrence Sklar had taught philosophy. Jessica completed a double major in English and mathematics in 1995.[2][3]
Next, Sklar moved to the University of Oregon for graduate study in mathematics, earning a master's degree in 1997 and completing her Ph.D. there in 2001.[4] Her dissertation, Binomial Rings and Algebras, was supervised by Frank Wylie Anderson.[5]
She has been a faculty member in the mathematics department at Pacific Lutheran since 2001.[2]
Combining her interests in mathematics and art she is one of 24 mathematicians and artists who make up the Mathemalchemy Team.[6][7]
Selected publications
- “‘Bok bok’: exploring the game of Chicken in film,” with Jennifer F. Nordstrom. In: Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Ed. Bharath Sriraman. Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2020.[8]
- “‘Elegance in design’: mathematics and the works of Ted Chiang.” In: Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Ed. Bharath Sriraman. Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2020.[8]
- “Disciple” (poem). Journal of Humanistic Mathematics 7(2) (July 2017), 418.
- First-Semester Abstract Algebra: A Structural Approach. GNU Free Documentation License, 2017.
- “A confused electrician uses Smith normal form,” with Tom Edgar. Mathematics Magazine 89(1) (2016), 3–13.
- Mathematics in Popular Culture: Essays on Appearances in Film, Literature, Games, Television and Other Media.[9] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2012. Editor, with Elizabeth S. Sklar.
- “The graph menagerie: abstract algebra and the Mad Veterinarian,” with G. Abrams. Mathematics Magazine 83(3) (2010), 168–179.
- “Dials and levers and glyphs, oh my! Linear algebra solutions to computer game puzzles.”Mathematics Magazine 79(5) (2006), 360–367.
- "Binomial rings.” Communications in Algebra 32(4) (2004), 1385–1399.
- “Binomial algebras.” Communications in Algebra 30(4) (2002), 1961–1978.
Recognition
Sklar was a winner of the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award of the Mathematical Association of America in 2011 for her paper with Gene Abrams, The Graph Menagerie: Abstract Algebra and the Mad Veterinarian.[10] The paper provides a general solution to a class of lattice reduction puzzles exemplified by the following one:[3]
"Suppose a mad veterinarian creates a transmogrifier that can convert one cat into two dogs and five mice, or one dog into three cats and three mice, or a mouse into a cat and a dog. It can also do each of these operations in reverse. Can it, through any sequence of operations, convert two cats into a pack of dogs? How about one cat?"
She was the July 2012 Author of the Month at Ada's Technical Books in Seattle, Washgington.
References
- ↑ Birth year from Library of Congress catalog entry, retrieved 2018-12-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Curriculum vitae, https://community.plu.edu/~sklarjk/sklarcv.pdf, retrieved 2020-08-02
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mackenzie, Dana (January 2013), "1 Plus 1 Makes Engaging Book: Mother and Daughter Bridge Generations and Disciplines", Swarthmore College Bulletin, https://bulletin.swarthmore.edu/bulletin-issue-archive/archive_p=988.html
- ↑ "Jessica Sklar", Mathematics Faculty and Staff (Pacific Lutheran University), https://www.plu.edu/math/staff/jessica-sklar/, retrieved 2020-05-03
- ↑ Jessica Sklar at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- ↑ Mathemalchemy’s Team
- ↑ Shinn, Lora (8 January 2021), "1 By the Numbers: PLU Professor Collaborates on a New Artwork Illuminating the Beauty of Math", PLU Marketing and Communications, https://www.plu.edu/news/archive/2021/01/28/plu-professor-beauty-of-math/
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sriraman, Bharath, ed (2020). Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Springerlink. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0. ISBN 978-3-319-70658-0. https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-319-70658-0.
- ↑ Reviews of Mathematics in Popular Culture:
- Ashbacher, Charles (June 2012), "Review", MAA Reviews, https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/mathematics-in-popular-culture
- Sterling, Chris (2012), "none", Communication Booknotes Quarterly 43 (3): 140, doi:10.1080/10948007.2012.700870
- Johnson, J. (September 2012), "none", Choice Reviews: 201
- Karaali, Gizem (November–December 2013), "Review", AWM Newsletter 43 (6): 22–25, https://www.drivehq.com/folder/p8755087/11772307136.aspx
- Kozek, Mark (March 2014), "none", The American Mathematical Monthly 121 (3): 274–278, doi:10.4169/amer.math.monthly.121.03.274
- Campbell, Paul J. (December 2014), "none", Mathematics Magazine 87 (5): 404–405, doi:10.4169/math.mag.87.5.404
- ↑ "MAA Awards Presented", Notices of the American Mathematical Society 58 (10): 1464, November 2011, https://www.ams.org/notices/201110/rtx111001464p.pdf
External links
- Home page
- Jessica Sklar publications indexed by Google Scholar
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