Mathematics
‘Science on Display:’ First Phase of Teaching Lab Renovations Completed in Science Center
Harvard completed the first phase of Science Center Teaching Lab renovations in January, refreshing existing lab spaces with glass walls and introducing collaboration spaces on the first and second floors of the building.
Math 55 to Hold In-Person Midterm in Shift from Past Semesters
Freshman math course Mathematics 55B: “Studies in Real and Complex Analysis” will require a 75-minute in-person midterm exam later this month, in a change from past semesters.
Statistics Department to Relocate from Science Center to Maxwell Dworkin in 2026
The Harvard Department of Statistics, currently located in the Science Center, will be relocating to the Maxwell Dworkin Laboratory starting in January 2026.
Palestinian Harvard Student Says She Was Targeted in Act of Vandalism
An undergraduate course assistant for Math 1b — Harvard’s introductory calculus course — alleged she was targeted for her Palestinian identity after a pro-Palestine sticker was removed from her water bottle and replaced with the word “Israel.”
‘It’s Not Gotten Worse’: Harvard Renovates Science Center Lecture Halls to Tepid Student Reactions
Harvard renovated the Science Center’s lecture halls, lobby, and a selection of first-floor classrooms over the summer. Some students said they didn’t notice.
Harvard Launches New Intro Math Course to Address Pandemic Learning Loss
The Harvard Math Department will pilot a new introductory course aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students, according to Harvard’s Director of Introductory Math Brendan A. Kelly.
‘Less Exciting and Less Fun’: Undergraduates Voice Frustrations with Science Lab Renovations
Ongoing renovations in Harvard’s Science Center have disrupted numerous science courses by closing off first and second floor teaching laboratories, eliciting frustration from undergraduates.
‘Science on Display’: Renovations to Teaching Labs Continue in Science Center
Harvard began renovations to the Science Center teaching laboratories in December 2023, closing off much of the first and second floors of the building. The ongoing construction is part of a longer renovation of the Science Center expected to end in the summer of 2025.
Harvard Math Professor Melanie Matchett Wood Wins ‘Genius Grant’
Harvard Mathematics professor Melanie Matchett Wood was named one of 25 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship for her work in “addressing the foundational questions in number theory from the perspective of arithmetic statistics.”
Harvard Professor Melanie Wood Becomes First Woman to Win Waterman Award in Mathematics
The National Science Foundation named Harvard Mathematics professor Melanie M. Wood one of two recipients of the 2021 Alan T. Waterman Award earlier this month, making her the first woman to win the award in mathematics.
Moon Duchin
Moon Duchin is currently an associate professor of Mathematics and the director of the Science, Technology, and Society program at Tufts University.
Faculty Debates Proposals to Implement Data Requirement, Establish Biotech Degree
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences debated proposals to implement a new data requirement for the General Education program, establish a new biotechnology degree, and study course registration changes at its monthly meeting Tuesday.
Some Math Faculty Chafe at Administrators’ Role in Faculty Hiring Process
Math Professor Wilfried Schmid publicly criticized what he viewed as administrators’ undue influence in the department’s current search at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ meeting earlier this month.
Princeton Prof Details Mysteries of Machine Learning at Harvard Lecture Series
Hundreds of faculty and students crowded into Science Center Hall D this week to hear a Princeton University computer science professor limn the secrets of machine learning.
Math Dept Hires 2nd-Ever Female Tenured Prof, Ending Six-Year Drought
Harvard’s Math Department has hired a woman as a senior professor for the second time in its history, ending a six-year streak in which the department boasted not a single woman of that rank.
The Whiz Kids
When high school junior Annamira O’Toole was in fourth grade, she said she grew tired of “learning long division for the fourteenth time.”
'A Sort of Everyday Struggle'
Women in Harvard's math department report a bevy of inequalities—from a discouraging absence of female faculty to a culture of "math bro" condescension.
Sir Timothy Gowers
Renowned British mathematician Sir Timothy Gowers, a Fields Medalist, lectures on problems in additive combinatorics, as part of the Ahlfors lecture series organized by the Harvard Math Department.
To Keep Pace with Tech, Law School Seeks STEM Students
As HLS admissions officers are finalizing next year’s class, they are doing so with an eye toward a group of fields that deviate from the traditional path to legal studies: STEM.
A Decade after FAS Moved to Tenure Track, Math Continues on Separate Path
Eleven years after the formal introduction of a tenure track in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Mathematics department remains an outlier, with no assistant or associate professors to speak of and no promotions from within since the 1990s.
Covering Ground: Barriers and Entries to STEM at Harvard
Introductory courses act as both gateways and barriers into Harvard’s STEM-based concentrations, as low-level courses increasingly are tasked with catching students up to their peers.
Out to Lunch with Aaron Slipper
Aaron A. G. Slipper ’18 shepherds us to the secret home of the Science Center's sole easy-access stapler. “This is one of the less exciting parts of the day here, but wait until we get to class,” Slipper tells us, stapling his problem set on the way to Algebraic Topology.