Linda Chen
Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Swarthmore, PA 19081
Email: lchen (at) swarthmore (dot) edu
Office: Science Center 153
Interests :
My research is in algebraic geometry and algebraic combinatorics, including quantum cohomology, K-theory, equivariant cohomology, Schubert calculus, degeneracy loci, moduli spaces of curves, affine Grassmannians, and other aspects of enumerative and combinatorial geometry. I am also actively engaged in mentoring and outreach.
Ongoing Events:
I co-organize the annual Mid-Atlantic Algebra, Geometry, and Combinatorics (MAAGC) Workshop, funded by NSF conference grant DMS-1728937.
I co-organize the Philadelphia Combinatorics, Algebra, and Geometry (CAGE) Seminar, held at the University of Pennsylvania/Drexel University.
I organize the Swarthmore Math/Stat Colloquium.
The Math-Physics Joint Seminar is held at the University of Pennsylvania.
Current and Upcoming Activity:
As of February 2022, I am the Associate Treasurer of the American Mathematical Society, and am a member of the Board of Trustees and the Council of the AMS.
I will be a panelist for a session at the Program for Women+ and Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ in May 2024
I will be speaking at the Gender Minorities in Topology and Related Areas Konference (GeMTRAK) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA in April 2024.
I am an Associate Editor for The American Mathematical Monthly.
Selected Past Activity:
I was elected to a three-year term on the American Mathematical Society (AMS) Nominating Committee and served 2017-2019. I was on the AMS Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Employment Security in 2016-2018, on the Mary P. Dolciani Prize for Excellence in Research committee, 2018-2022, and on the AMS-Simons Research Enhancement Grant for PUI Faculty committee, 2023-2024.
I was a panelist for a session organized by the Joint Committee on Women (JCW) at the Joint Mathematical Meetings, San Francisco, January 2024
I spoke at the Mid-Atlantic Algebra, Geometry, and Combinatorics (MAAGC) Workshop at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA in December 2023.
I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics and served 2020-2022.
I was a group leader for the Women in Algebraic Geometry Collaborative Research Workshop at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM), July 27-31, 2020.
I was a speaker in Women in Algebra and Combinatorics. Northeast Conference Celebrating the AWM: 50 Years and Counting in April 2023, the Annual Graduate Student Conference in Algebra, Geometry, and Topology (GTA Philadelphia) in May 2022, the Facets of Algebraic Geometry conference in October 2019, the MAA NJ Section Meeting in October 2018, the Western Algebraic Geometry Symposium in March 2018, and the Georgia Algebraic Geometry Symposium in February 2018.
I co-organized the Philadelphia Area Junior Math Circle for elementary school students in 2018-2020
I have had various roles (visitor counselor, mentor, organizing committee) for the high school math programs Canada/USA Mathcamp and the Ross Mathematics Program in the 1990's and 2000's.
About Me:
Prior to arriving at Swarthmore College in Fall 2008, I was an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University, and a VIGRE postdoctoral fellow and Ritt Assistant Professor at Columbia University. I received my Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago under the direction of William Fulton, and received my A.B. in Mathematics from Harvard College. I grew up mostly in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but was born in upstate New York, and lived in New York City and New Jersey before moving to Michigan. I was away from Swarthmore in 2011-13, when I worked at the National Science Foundation as a Program Director in the Topology and Geometric Analysis Programs in the Division of Mathematical Sciences.