Aparna W. Higgins is a mathematician known for her encouragement of undergraduate mathematicians to participate in mathematical research. Higgins originally specialized in

universal algebra Universal algebra (sometimes called general algebra) is the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures themselves, not examples ("models") of algebraic structures. For instance, rather than take particular groups as the object of study, ...

, but her more recent research concerns

graph theory In mathematics, graph theory is the study of ''graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conne ...

, including

graph pebbling Graph pebbling is a mathematical game played on a graph with zero or more pebbles on each of its vertices. 'Game play' is composed of a series of pebbling moves. A pebbling move on a graph consists of choosing a vertex with at least two pebbles, r ...

and line graphs. She is a professor of mathematics at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Education and career

Higgins is originally from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India, and did her undergraduate studies at the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

, graduating in 1978. She completed her Ph.D. in 1983 at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

; her dissertation, ''Heterogeneous Algebras Associated with Non-Indexed Algebras, a Representation Theorem on Weak Automorphisms of Universal Algebras'', was supervised by Abraham Goetz. In 2009 she became director of Project NExT, after the previous director, T. Christine Stevens, stepped down; this project is an initiative 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 ...

to provide career guidance to new doctorates in mathematics. Higgins is married to Bill Higgins, a mathematics professor at

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ...

, and the two regularly take their

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

s together in California.

Recognition

Higgins won a Distinguished Teaching Award from the

in 1995, for her contributions to undergraduate research. In 2005 she was one of three winners of the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics of the Mathematical Association of America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Aparna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century Indian mathematicians 20th-century women mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 21st-century Indian mathematicians 21st-century women mathematicians American women mathematicians Graph theorists Indian combinatorialists Indian emigrants to the United States Indian women mathematicians University of Dayton faculty University of Mumbai alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Women scientists from Maharashtra 20th-century American women 21st-century American women 20th-century Indian women