Posted 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017

How a math prof changed a student’s career goals, connecting her to a team of faculty mentors to prepare for grad school.
How a math prof changed a student’s career goals, connecting her to a team of faculty mentors to prepare for grad school
UWL student Kelly Emmrich remembers the moment she was struck by the beauty of math. It was a calculus class her freshman year at UWL. She was watching Assistant Professor Whitney George draw lines on white board while explaining the meaning behind derivatives. Emmrich had never had much patience for math. High school calculus was “unsatisfying.” She was plugging and chugging numbers that didn’t appear to have much consequence. But sitting in George’s class that day, Emmrich began to form an entirely new appreciation for the way math explained so much. “I remember saying to myself, ‘Ahh, yes, that just makes so much sense,’” recalls Emmrich. Naturally, Emmrich’s new fascination led to many more questions. She took them to George’s office hours where the two would regularly discuss the layers of meaning behind math equations. “It was the first time I asked a question to someone who was willing to sit here for 30 minutes and tell me about it,” recalls Emmrich. “In high school, there just wasn’t an opportunity like that.” Answers to her questions led to more. George says they were the type of questions she would rarely get from a student and it was obvious to her Emmrich was thinking about the problems deeply. One day after a fresh round of questions, George stopped Emmrich and inquired what her major was. When the reply wasn’t math, George smiled, “We need to fix that.” Emmrich says she thought only a “genius” would set out on a path to become a mathematician — certainly not her. But George’s encouragement led her straight to the dean’s office that day to declare mathematics and begin the work of one day applying to graduate school in the subject. So far Emmrich, a UWL senior, is well on her way. She took all of the entry level up to 400 level courses in the Mathematics and Statistics Department in a span of four semesters, giving her time to pursue more experiential learning in preparation for graduate school. She has completed one independent study each semester and two undergraduate research experiences in different parts of the country. She has also presented research at numerous mathematics conferences. This summer she attended The Institute of Advanced Study Program for Women and Mathematics, a prestigious and intensive mentoring program for women in mathematics at Princeton, New Jersey. Thousands apply to the program. Emmrich was one of only 10 undergraduates selected. [caption id="attachment_49713" align="aligncenter" width="685"]


- Research Experience for Undergraduates June-July 2016 at California State University, Fresno. Her research team's results were compiled into the paper, “Sufficient conditions on a linear operator on R[X] to be monotone,” which was accepted into the Houston Journal of Mathematics in April 2017.
- Oral presentation of Fresno REU in October 2016 at the UWL Mathematics Department Colloquium Series.
- Oral presentation of Fresno REU in January 2017 at the 2017 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Poster presentation of Fresno REU in February 2017 at the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics at University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
- Mathematics history research with Susan Kelly, UWL Mathematics and Statistics, on mathematician Lee Lorch in March 2017 at York University in Toronto, Canada. The research complements Emmrich’s ethnic and racial studies minor.
- Oral presentation at the UW System Symposium in April 2017 at UW-Stevens Point.
- Studied Geometry and Randomness in Group Theory in May 2017 at the prestigious and intensive mentoring program for women in mathematics at Princeton, New Jersey, The Institute of Advanced Study Program for Women and Mathematics.
[caption id="attachment_49712" align="aligncenter" width="685"]
UWL senior Kelly Emmrich studied Geometry and Randomness in Group Theory in May 2017 at The Institute of Advanced Study Program for Women and Mathematics. It is one of many opportunities she has found through UWL faculty connections in preparation for graduate school. Photo credit: Andrea Kane/Institute for Advanced Study.[/caption]
- Research Experience for Undergraduates and Teachers June-August 2017 at the California State University, Chico.
- Oral presentation of Fresno REU at the Southeastern Undergraduate Mathematics Workshop August 2017 at Georgia Tech.
- Graduate Research Opportunities for Women (GROW) in October 2017 at Northwestern University.
- West Coast Number Theory Conference in December 2017 in Monterey, California, December 2017.
- 2018 Joint Mathematics Meetings in January 2018 in San Diego, California