Lesley Ann Ward is an Australian mathematician specializing in

harmonic analysis Harmonic analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the representation of Function (mathematics), functions or signals as the Superposition principle, superposition of basic waves, and the study of and generalization of the notions of Fo ...

complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates Function (mathematics), functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathemati ...

, and industrial

applications of mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical ...

. She is a professor in the School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences of the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

, director of the Mathematics Clinic at the university, and former chair of the Women in Mathematics Group of the

Australian Mathematical Society The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the Society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing t ...

Education and career

Ward earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics with first class honours from

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

(ANU) in 1987; at ANU, she served as president of the Students' Association for 1984–1985. She went to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

for her graduate studies, also visiting the

Mittag-Leffler Institute The Mittag-Leffler Institute is a mathematical research institute located in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm. It invites scholars to participate in half-year programs in specialized mathematical subjects. The Institute is run by the Royal Swe ...

as a student, and completed her doctorate at Yale in 1994. Her dissertation, ''Fuchsian Groups, Quasiconformal Groups, and Conical Limit Sets'', was supervised by Peter Jones. She worked as a G. C. Evans Instructor at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

from 1994 to 1997, overlapping with a postdoctoral fellowship at the

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution on the University of California campus in Berkeley, Califo ...

in 1995. She then joined the

Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a private college in Claremont, California, focused on science and engineering. It is part of the Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds and resources. The college enrolls 902 undergraduate students ...

mathematics faculty, and in 2006 moved to the University of South Australia.

Selected publications

With

Cristina Pereyra María Cristina Pereyra (born 1964) is a Venezuelan mathematician. She is a professor of mathematics and statistics at the University of New Mexico, and the author of several books on wavelets and harmonic analysis. Education and employment Pereyr ...

, Ward is the author of ''Harmonic Analysis: from Fourier to Wavelets'' (Student Mathematical Library 63,

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, ...

, 2012). She has also published highly-cited work on the

HITS algorithm Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search (HITS; also known as hubs and authorities) is a link analysis algorithm that rates Web pages, developed by Jon Kleinberg. The idea behind Hubs and Authorities stemmed from a particular insight into the creation of web ...

for using link structure to rate web pages.

Recognition

Ward won the Henry L. Alder Award 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 ...

] in 2006 for distinguished teaching as a beginning undergraduate teacher. She was included in the 2019 class of fellows 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 ...

] "for her enduring commitment to supporting women in the mathematical sciences; for her mentoring in research; for her work on inclusivity; and for her leadership of the Women in Mathematics Special Interest Group in Australia".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Lesley Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian mathematicians Women mathematicians Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the University of South Australia Fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics