Tatiana Toro is a Colombian-American mathematician at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

.. Her research is "at the interface of

geometric measure theory In mathematics, geometric measure theory (GMT) is the study of geometric properties of sets (typically in Euclidean space) through measure theory. It allows mathematicians to extend tools from differential geometry to a much larger class of surfa ...

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 ...

and

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".. Toro was appointed director of the

Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences 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 ...

for 2022–2027.

Education and employment

Toro was born in 1964 in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, competed for Colombia in the 1981

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except i ...

, and earned a bachelor's degree from the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, Ces ...

. In 1992, she was awarded her PhD at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, under the supervision of

Leon Simon Leon Melvyn Simon , born in 1945, is a Leroy P. Steele PrizeSee announcemen retrieved 15 September 2017. and Bôcher Memorial Prize, Bôcher Prize-winningSee . mathematician, known for deep contributions to the fields of geometric analysis, g ...

. After short-term positions at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, she joined the University of Washington faculty in 1996. Since August 2022, Toro serves as the director of

(formerly MSRI). She will maintain her tenure at the University of Washington throughout her term.

Honors and awards

Toro was an

invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians This is a list of International Congresses of Mathematicians Plenary and Invited Speakers. Being invited to talk at an International Congress of Mathematicians has been called "the equivalent, in this community, of an induction to a hall of fame." ...

in 2010. She became a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 2015. She was elected as a member of the 2017 class of

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s 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, ...

"for contributions to geometric measure theory,

potential theory In mathematics and mathematical physics, potential theory is the study of harmonic functions. The term "potential theory" was coined in 19th-century physics when it was realized that two fundamental forces of nature known at the time, namely gravi ...

, and free boundary theory". At the University of Washington, she was the Robert R. & Elaine F. Phelps Professor in Mathematics from 2012 to 2016 and is currently the Craig McKibben and Sarah Merner Professor. Toro was named MSRI Chancellor's Professor for 2016–17. She was awarded the 2020 Blackwell-Tapia Prize. She was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) in 2020. Toro was honored as the

AWM/MAA Falconer Lecturer The Etta Z. Falconer Lecture is an award and lecture series which honors "women who have made distinguished contributions to the mathematical sciences or mathematics education". It is sponsored by the Association for Women in Mathematics and the Ma ...

in 2023.

References

Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 20th-century Colombian mathematicians Colombian emigrants to the United States American women mathematicians National University of Colombia alumni Stanford University alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty University of Chicago faculty University of Washington faculty 1964 births 20th-century women mathematicians 21st-century women mathematicians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Mathematical Society 20th-century American women 21st-century American women {{mathematician-stub