Professor

Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Email: lchen (at) swarthmore (dot) edu
Research Interests
:
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.

Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Swarthmore, PA 19081
Email: lchen (at) swarthmore (dot) edu
Office: Science Center 153
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.
Ongoing Events:
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.
- I co-organize the annual Mid-Atlantic Algebraic 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 co-organize the Philadelphia Junior Math Circle (grades PK-4).
- The Math-Physics Joint Seminar is held at the University of Pennsylvania.
Current and Upcoming Activity:
- I have been elected to a four-year term on the Executive Committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics, 2020-2024.
- I am an Associate Editor for The American Mathematical Monthly.
- I am currently serving a five-year term on the Prize Committee for the American Mathematical Society (AMS) Mary P. Dolciani Prize for Excellence in Research, 2018-2022.
- I will be speaking in the Mid-Atlantic Algebraic Geometry and Combinatorics (MAAGC) Workshop in March 2020 (postponed).
- I will a keynote speaker for the Sixth Annual Graduate Student Conference in Algebra, Geometry, and Topology (GTA Philadelphia) in May 2020 (postponed).
- I will be speaking in the IMPANGA 2020: Schubert Varieties conference in Bedlewo, Poland, in June 2020 (postponed).
- I wwas 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.
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.
- I was a speaker in the Facets of Algebraic Geometry conference in October 2019.
- I was a plenary speaker for the MAA NJ Section Meeting in October 2018.
- I was a speaker in the Western Algebraic Geometry Symposium in March 2018 .
- I was a speaker in the Georgia Algebraic Geometry Symposium in February 2018.
- I gave the Alice Dickinson Lecture in Mathematics at the Women in Mathematics in New England (WiMiN 2015) conference in September 2015.
- I was on the Program Committee for the 27th Annual International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics, July 6-10, 2015, at KAIST in Daejoon, Korea.
- I gave a Colloquium talk at the 2015 IAS Program for Women and Mathematics, "Aspects of Algebraic Geometry" in May 2015.
- I co-organized the Special Session on Algebraic Geometry at the AWM Research Symposium, University of Maryland, April 11-12, 2015.
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.