Much symbolism underlies the lecture — named for 19th-century mathematician and women’s rights advocate Sonia Kovalevsky — recently awarded to Tulane University’s Lisa Fauci, who will address reproduction biofluids at an industry event this Monday through Friday in Boston.
Russian-born Kovalevsky was the first latter-day European
female to attain a full professorship, and her eponymous lecture is an annual feature
for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) gathering. Tulane
mathematics professor Fauci was tapped to deliver the 2016 Kovalevsky Lecture
“for her pioneering contributions to mathematical and computational modeling of
aquatic locomotion, microorganism motility and fluid dynamics of human reproduction.”
Fauci described the honor as a joint prize with multiple
meanings.
“It highlights the importance of applied math and scientific
research and at the same time it honors the contribution of women in applied
mathematics,” she said.
Fauci collaborates often with other colleagues and publishes
regularly. She has received federal grant funding for 28 years from prestigious
institutions, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of
Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the Army Research Office and the
Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.
Additionally, Fauci has delivered lectures on biological
fluid dynamics throughout the world. She described the 2016 Kovalevsky Lecture
assignment as a special honor in its commemoration of one of the world’s
greatest mathematicians.
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