Biography:Minerva Cordero

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Short description: Puerto Rican mathematician
Minerva Cordero
Born
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Alma materB.S., Universidad de Puerto Rico
M.S., University of California, Berkeley
PhD, University of Iowa
Known forFinite geometry
AwardsAAAS IF/THEN Ambassador
HENAAC Education Award
Ford Legendary Woman
PAESMEM award
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsTexas Tech University, University of Texas at Arlington
ThesisOn p-primitive Planes
Doctoral advisorNorman Lloyd Johnson (Iowa)

Minerva Cordero Braña [1][2] is a Puerto Rican mathematician and a professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is also the university's Senior Associate Dean for the College of Science, where she is responsible for the advancement of the research mission of the college.[3] President Biden awarded her the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) on February 8, 2022.[4]

Early life and education

Cordero was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Her mother, whose schooling stopped after the fifth grade,[5] made education a top priority in the family home. She told her children "the best thing I can give you is an education." Cordero and her siblings would do their homework together and discussed what they learned in school each day.[5] Cordero said, "We learned each other's subjects." Wanting to go to college, Cordero bought herself a college exam preparation book in high school and studied for the college-entrance exam.[5][6] She states that her exam scores were the highest scores for her high school, Miguel Melendez Munoz High School.[6]

Cordero attended the Universidad de Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras and received her B.S. in Mathematics in 1981. She was granted a National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowship which she used to attend the University of California at Berkeley to obtain her masters in mathematics in 1983. She continued her studies at the University of Iowa, and obtained her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1989 under Norman Johnson.[7][6]

Career and research

Cordero's research is in the area of finite semifields (non-associative algebras) and their associated planes (viewed affinely or projectively) in the general area of finite geometry.[8]

After earning her Ph.D., Cordero worked as an associate and an assistant professor at Texas Tech University until 2001, when she joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington.[3] Cordero served as the Mathematical Association of America's Governor-at-Large for Minority Interests from 2008 to 2011.[9][10]

Cordero's most-cited work is A survey of finite semifields.[11] She was the Principal Investigator for a National Science Foundation grant of $2.85 million awarded to the University of Texas at Arlington in 2009 for a project that placed mathematics graduate students in Arlington public schools to enhance teaching and learning in the classrooms and to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).[12]

Awards and honors

  • New Faculty Award, Texas Tech University, 1994[6]
  • Professor of the Year, student chapter of the Mathematical Association of America at Texas Tech University, 1995[6]
  • President's Excellence in Teaching Award, Texas Tech University, 1999
  • Outstanding Hispanic Women of the South Plains, South Plains Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2000
  • Featured Biography, Mathematical Association of America Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Mathematics Achievement (SUMMA) Program, 2001[13]
  • University of Texas Board of Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, 2009[14]
  • Featured Biography, SACNAS Biography Project, 2011[15][5]
  • Certificate of Meritorious Service, Mathematical Association of America, 2012
  • Ford Legendary Women (Mujeres Legendarias de Ford), 2016[16] [17]
  • Great Minds in STEM 2016 HENAAC Award Education Distinction, 2016[17]
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science IF/THEN Ambassador, 2019[18]
  • Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), 2022[4][19]
  • Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics in the Class of 2023.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Minerva Cordero-Epperson – Academy of Distinguished Teachers – The University of Texas at Arlington". http://www.uta.edu/academy/members/2005/minerva-cordero-epperson.php. 
  2. ↑ "Links". https://wweb.uta.edu/faculty/cordero/links.htm. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "College of Science". http://www.uta.edu/cos/news.php?ID=174. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "President Biden Honors 117 Individuals and Organizations with Highest U.S. Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers and Mentors" (in en-US). 2022-02-08. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/08/president-biden-honors-117-individuals-and-organizations-with-highest-u-s-award-for-science-and-mathematics-teachers-and-mentors/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Highlighting Diverse STEM Role Models | SACNAS" (in en). https://www.sacnas.org/sacnas-biography-project. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Hill, Vicki. "Minerva-Cordero Epperson". Mathematical Association of America. http://www.maa.org/minerva-cordero-epperson. Retrieved 4 May 2017. 
  7. ↑ "Mathematics PhDs from the University of Iowa (Year) | Department of Mathematics | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | The University of Iowa". https://math.uiowa.edu/graduate-program/mathematics-phds/phdbyyear. 
  8. ↑ "SACNAS Biography Project". http://bio.sacnas.org/biography/Biography.asp?mem=183&type=2. 
  9. ↑ "Minerva Cordero, University of Texas at Arlington – AWM Association for Women in Mathematics". https://sites.google.com/site/awmmath/home/awm-elections-2015/minerva-cordero-university-of-texas-at-arlington. 
  10. ↑ "January 2012 Prizes and Awards". January 5, 2012. http://www.ams.org/profession/prizebooklet-2012.pdf. 
  11. ↑ Cordero, M.; Wene, G.P. (1999). "A survey of finite semifields". Discrete Mathematics 208-209 (28 October 1999): 125–137. doi:10.1016/S0012-365X(99)00068-0. 
  12. ↑ Stevens, Sue. "UT Arlington math department wins $2.85 million NSF grant; project places graduate students in Arlington public schools to improve math teaching". http://www.uta.edu/math/gk12/news/nsf_grant_2009.html. Retrieved 12 January 2018. 
  13. ↑ "Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Mathematics Achievement". https://www.maa.org/minerva-cordero. Retrieved 4 August 2019. 
  14. ↑ "Nine UT Arlington". https://www.uta.edu/ucomm/mediarelations/press/2009/08/Regents-Outstanding-Teaching-Awards-2009.php. Retrieved 12 January 2018. 
  15. ↑ "Dr.Cordero Featured in SACNAS Biography Project – Dr. Minerva Cordero – The University of Texas at Arlington". https://blog.uta.edu/cordero/2011/05/31/dr-cordero-featured-in-sacnas-biography-project/. 
  16. ↑ Unamo, Liz. "Minerva Cordero of Texas University at Arlington acknowledged as Ford's Legendary Woman.". http://www1.produ.com/hispanicpub/noticias/136066. Retrieved 12 January 2018. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Maverick Science E-News". https://www.uta.edu/cos/newsletter/archnewsletter55.php. 
  18. ↑ "#IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit" (in en). https://ifthenexhibit.org/. 
  19. ↑ "UTA professor awarded nation's highest honor for math teachers, mentors" (in en). 2022-02-16. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/02/16/uta-professor-awarded-nations-highest-honor-for-math-teachers-mentors/. 
  20. ↑ "AWM Fellows Program: 2023 Class of AWM Fellows". Association for Women in Mathematics. https://awm-math.org/awards/awm-fellows/2023-awm-fellows/. Retrieved January 22, 2023. 



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