Erika Tatiana Camacho is a Mexican and American mathematical biologist and professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at San Antonio.[1] She is a 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) awardee.[2] She was taught and mentored in high school by Jaime Escalante, who was the subject of the movie Stand and Deliver.[3]
Erika Camacho | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Erika Tatiana Camacho September 3, 1974 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Cornell University Wellesley College |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematical Biology Applied mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Texas at San Antonio Arizona State University Loyola Marymount University Los Alamos National Laboratory Cal Poly Pomona Cornell University |
| Thesis | Mathematical Models of Retinal Dynamics |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard H. Rand |
| Website | www |
Education
editCamacho was born 3 September 1974, in Guadalajara, Mexico. She attended high school at Garfield High School from 1990 to 1993 where she was taught by Jaime Escalante.[4][5] After graduating from Wellesley College, cum laude, with Bachelor of Arts degrees in mathematics and economics in 1997, she went to earn a PhD in applied mathematics[6] from Cornell University in 2003 for her research on mathematical models of retinal dynamics.
Career
editAfter spending a year as a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Camacho joined the faculty of the Department of Mathematics at Loyola Marymount University in 2004. She co-founded and co-directed the summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates, the Applied Mathematical Sciences Summer Research Institute (AMSSI), that ran from 2005 to 2007 with support from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. Her research focuses on mathematical models of photoreceptors in the retina.[4] In 2007, she moved to Arizona State University where she worked as a professor of applied mathematics. In 2013–2014, she taught at MIT in the MLK Visiting Scholars program.[7] She has served on numerous national boards including the Council of the American Mathematical Society (AMS),[8] the Advisory Board of National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS),[9] and SACNAS Board of Directors.[10] She served as an AMS Council member at large from 2018 to 2020.[11]
In September 2019 she began a 3-year rotation as a Program Director with the National Science Foundation. She was co-lead of the HSI Program and worked with the ADVANCE Program. She served as a Program Director in the Racial Equity in STEM Program Description where she and the other Program Directors were awarded a 2022 Director's Award for Superior Accomplishment: "For excellence, inclusion, collaboration, integrity, learning, transparency, and public service in creating and bringing to fruition the EHR Racial Equity in STEM Education Program Description, a timely idea whose impact may fundamentally change the scientific endeavor and NSF."[12]
In January 2023, she began a Fulbright Scholar Award at the Institut de la Vision in Paris (Sorbonne University),[13] [14] and in August of that year, she announced her move to the University of Texas at San Antonio.[15] She is also a staunch advocate for inclusivity in STEM.[16][17][18][19]
Awards
editCamacho is the recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's 2019 Mentor Award[20] and a 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM),[2] awarded for her research with and mentoring of undergraduates. In 2023 she received the M. Gweneth Humphreys Award in recognition of mathematics educators who have exhibited outstanding mentorship [21] and in 2020 she received the Louise Hay Award for Mathematics Education,[22] both from the Association for Women in Mathematics.
She won the 2020 SACNAS Presidential Service Award,[23] the 2018 American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education Research/Teaching (Research Institutions) Award (now the AAHHE Sylvia Hurtado University Faculty Award),[24] the 2017 HENAAC Education Award,[25] the 2012 SACNAS Distinguished Undergraduate Institution Mentor Award,[23] and the 2011 Hispanic Women's Corporation National Latina Leadership Award.[26]
Camacho was selected a Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics in the class of 2024 "for her leadership in the advancement, mentoring, and support of women and underrepresented groups at all levels through the creation of opportunities, collaborative research, and impactful service. Her work brings sustained systemic change, diversity, equity, and inclusion in mathematics, and more broadly in STEM."[27] She was elected as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in the 2024 class of fellows.[28]
References
edit- ^ "Erika Tatiana Camacho, Ph.D." sciences.utsa.edu. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ a b "PAESMEM Award". paesmem.net. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
- ^ "Jaime Escalante in the 21st Century: Still Standing and Delivering - The Best Schools". Thebestschools.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Erika Camacho – Math4Science". Math4science.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Life In Absolute Values - Diverse". Diverseeducation.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Spotlights - Center for Applied Mathematics - Cornell Engineering". Cam.cornell.edu. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Erika Camacho, Mathematics – Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars". math.mit.edu. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 20 Jan 2023.
- ^ "AMS Council Members". ams.org. Retrieved 20 Jan 2023.
- ^ "NIMBioS Board of Advisors". www.nimbios.org. Retrieved 20 Jan 2023.
- ^ "SACNAS Board of Directors". sacnas.org. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ "AMS Committees". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "NSF Director's Award Ceremony". events.tvworldwide.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "U.S. Fulbright Scholar page".
- ^ "ASU math professors earn prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award". 26 July 2022.
- ^ "I am at The University of Texas at San Antonio!". linkedin.com. August 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "Women's Business Conference To Focus On Latinas In STEM Careers". KJZZ. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Featured Interview: Sloan Scholar Erika Camacho on Mentoring in Service of Diversity – Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network". Sloan-scholars.ssrc.org. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Once uninspired student, math professor finds passion in teaching". Statepress.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Erika Tatiana Camacho, Ph.D." Technica Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ Holland, Richard (7 February 2019). "ASU New College professor receives 2019 AAAS Mentor Award". ASU Now. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Humphreys Award 2023". awm-math.org. 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Hay Award 2020". awm-math.org.
- ^ a b "SACNAS Award". Sacnas.org. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
- ^ "AAHHE Sylvia Hurtado University Faculty Award". American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "award-winners-2017". Greatmindsinstem.org. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ "Hispanic Women's Conference - Arizona PBS". Azpbs.org.
- ^ "2024 AWM Fellows". Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ "2024 Class of Fellows of the AMS". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 8 November 2023.