Marie A. Vitulli is an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and professor emerita at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Mathematics

Vitulli's research is in

commutative algebra Commutative algebra, first known as ideal theory, is the branch of algebra that studies commutative rings, their ideals, and modules over such rings. Both algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory build on commutative algebra. Prominent ...

and applications to

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

. More specific topics in her research include deformations of monomial curves, seminormal rings, the weak normality of commutative rings and algebraic varieties, weak subintegrality, and the theory of valuations for commutative rings. Along with her colleague David K. Harrison, she developed a unified valuation theory for rings with zero divisors that generalized both Krull and Archimedean valuations. She was an undergraduate at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

and obtained her PhD in 1976 at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

under the supervision of Dock-Sang Rim. Her dissertation was ''Weierstrass Points and Monomial Curves''. The title of her 2014 Falconer lecture was "From Algebraic to Weak Subintegral Extensions in Algebra and Geometry."

Activism

Vitulli and political scientist

Gordon Lafer Gordon Lafer is a political economist writer who has served as Senior Labor Policy Advisor for the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and Labor and has a history of Labor Union activism. He has written widely on labor and ...

led an effort to unionize faculty at the University of Oregon beginning in the spring of 2007. This effort eventually led to the formation of the United Academics at the University of Oregon. Vitulli heads the Women in Math Project at the University of Oregon. With Mary Flahive, Vitulli has also studied patterns in hiring among women mathematicians. Vitulli has also written about the difficulties involved with documenting the lives of female mathematicians on Wikipedia. Vitulli participated in the panel discussion held as the first official activity of Spectra at the 2015

Joint Mathematics Meetings The Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) is a mathematics conference hosted annually in early January by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Frequently, several other national mathematics organizations also participate. The meeting is the largest g ...

. She endowed the MSRI Marie A. Vitulli Graduate Fellowship to "support one advanced graduate student in mathematics, per academic year, to attend an MSRI program with their advisor."

Recognition

Vitulli was recognized as an AWM/MAA Falconer Lecturer in 2014. Vitulli received a Service Award from 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 ...

in 2017. She is part of the 2019 class of fellows of the

. She was elected as a Fellow 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, ...

in the 2020 Class, for "contributions to commutative algebra, and for service to the mathematical community particularly in support of women in mathematics".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitulli, Marie A. 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Living people University of Rochester alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Oregon faculty 1949 births Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians LGBT mathematicians