Annalisa Crannell is an American mathematician, and an expert in the mathematics of

water waves In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, water wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of bodies of water as a result from the wind blowing over the water surface. The contact distance in the direction of t ...

chaos theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have co ...

, and

geometric perspective Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...

. She is a professor of mathematics at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

Education

Crannell is the daughter of

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

Hall L. Crannell of the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

, and

solar physicist Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and comput ...

Carol Jo Crannell of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

. As a high school student, her favorite subject was Spanish, and she was indifferent to mathematics. She entered

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

intending to continue her language studies, but was inspired to change majors to mathematics by professor Mario Martelli, who noted her talent in a calculus class and encouraged her to take a senior-level class in

partial differential equation In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which imposes relations between the various partial derivatives of a Multivariable calculus, multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be sol ...

s as a freshman. She graduated in 1986, with magna cum laude honors, and completed her Ph.D. in 1992 from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, with Walter Craig as her

doctoral advisor A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...

Career

Crannell joined the faculty of

in 1992. She was the founding Don of Bonchek College House (formerly South Ben College House), serving as don from 2005 to 2010. She was section governor of the East Pennsylvania Delaware section of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

(2014-2016), and was a member of the executive committee of the

Association for Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

from 2012 to 2015. She has also chaired the Nominating Committee of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

(2003–2005). She has been the associate editor of ''Mathematics Magazine'', published by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), for over 15 years.

Contributions

Crannell's dissertation, ''The Existence of Many Non-Traveling, Periodic Solutions of the Boussinesq Equation'', concerned the Boussinesq approximation for water waves. She is the author or editor of the following books: *''Starting Our Careers: A Collection of Essays and Advice on Professional Development from the Young Mathematicians' Network'' (edited with Curtis D. Bennett,

, 1999) *''Writing Projects for Mathematics Courses: Crushed Clowns, Cars, and Coffee to Go'' (with Gavin LaRose, Thomas Ratliff, and Elyn Rykken, MAA, 2004) *'' Viewpoints: Mathematical Perspective and Fractal Geometry in Art'' (with Marc Frantz, Princeton University Press, 2011) *''Perspective and Projective Geometry'' (with Marc Frantz and

Fumiko Futamura Fumiko Futamura is a Japanese-American mathematician known for her work on the mathematics of perspective and perspective drawing. She is a professor of mathematics at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and Lord Chair in Mathematics a ...

, Princeton University Press, 2019) Her recent research has included studies of perspective in art, such as in the engravings of

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

. One of her techniques for understanding the perspective of artworks is to bring

chopsticks Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...

to art galleries, which she uses as a convenient tool for finding vanishing points and, from these points, determining the best points to stand when viewing the art.

Recognition

Crannell won the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award of the

in 2008. The award recognizes outstanding mathematics teachers "whose teaching effectiveness has been shown to have had influence beyond their own institutions". Crannell won the Christian R. And Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award For Distinguished Teaching in 2016.

Interests

Crannell ran in her first

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consider ...

on August 24, 2014.

Education

Career

Contributions

Recognition

Interests

References

Further reading