Pomona College Math Professor Ami Radunskaya was recently awarded $14,993 from the National Science Foundation to support the 2021 EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) Summer Symposium. The EDGE Summer Symposium is a three-day conference that takes place during the EDGE Summer Session, an annual four-week workshop designed to prepare women mathematicians to succeed in their mathematics Ph.D. programs and to thrive in their careers.
In EDGE, participants develop the tools and confidence for success through rigorous workshops in key subjects, collaborative problem sessions, research presentations, colloquia and community-building events.
“Now in its 23rd year, the EDGE Program has encouraged over 250 young women to flourish in mathematics. The 2021 cohort was an incredibly special group, and it was an absolute joy to meet them and celebrate them as they begin their graduate school journey,” says Radunskaya, who is president of the EDGE Foundation, was formerly president of the Association for Women in Mathematics from 2017-2019 and received a Pomona College Wig Distinguished Professor Award for Excellence in Teaching (the College’s highest honor for faculty) in 2012.
The 2021 in-person summer symposium was hosted by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities from June 2-30. In addition to the NSF, the EDGE summer session was supported by grants, sponsorships and donations from five corporations, 19 institutions and professional organizations, one private foundation and 78 individuals.
In 2014, Radunskaya was featured in the independent film, “The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things,” a documentary that featured positive and powerful women who are excelling in traditionally male-dominated fields and can serve as role models for young women beginning their careers. Radunskaya’s areas of expertise include dynamical systems, stochastic processes, mathematical modeling and non-linear models of power systems.