Linda Chen

Professor

Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Swarthmore College

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 and mirror symmetry, 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 am an Associate Editor for The American Mathematical Monthly.

• I am involved in Math Outreach to  students at public Title I middle schools. Along with faculty from area universities, a group of Swarthmore faculty/staff and undergraduates led math activities for students in the PACTS program at the Franklin Institute in December 2024. This and other outreach is supported by a Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility Engaged Scholarship grant. Contact me if you would like to get involved!

Selected Past Activity:

• I was 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 spoke at the Gender Minorities in Topology and Related Areas Konference (GeMTRAK) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA in April 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 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 elected to the Executive Committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics and served 2020-2022.

• 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.