Seema Nanda is an Indian mathematician. In her research she applies mathematics to study problems in biology, engineering and finance. Her research interests are primarily in solving real world problems using mathematics and computations.

Education

Her education in mathematics was at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, where she obtained her

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1998. Her PhD thesis was in the area of

probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set o ...

and was supervised by

Charles M. Newman Charles Michael "Chuck" Newman (born 1 March 1946) is a mathematician and a physicist at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. He works in the fields of mathematical physics, statistical mechanics, and probability ...

Career

Prior to her current position as a faculty at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, she held cross-disciplinary academic positions at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and at

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 ...

. She switched careers from working in the corporate world to academic research in 2004. Before returning to academia she worked as a quantitative analyst for an investment bank in New York City. She is also interested in encouraging the youth of India to understand science and mathematics. In 2012 she founded an NGO called Leora Trust which aims to empower girls through education.

Awards

She was a recipient of the Bella Manel prize (given to a promising female student of mathematics at NYU) in 1996.

References

External links

Leora Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda, Seema Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Indian mathematicians Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni 20th-century Indian women mathematicians