Małgorzata Peszyńska (born August 28, 1962) is a Polish and American

applied 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 One ...

specializing in the

mathematical model A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...

ing and computational solution of flows through

porous media In materials science, a porous medium or a porous material is a material containing pores (voids). The skeletal portion of the material is often called the "matrix" or "frame". The pores are typically filled with a fluid (liquid or gas). The sk ...

and their geological applications, including the effects of

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

locked in

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

. She is a professor of mathematics at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

Education and career

Peszyńska is originally from Warsaw, and holds dual US and Polish citizenship. After attending a special high school program for students talented in mathematics, she earned a master's degree at the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...

in 1986, studying a combination of

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

and

theoretical computer science Theoretical computer science is a subfield of computer science and mathematics that focuses on the Abstraction, abstract and mathematical foundations of computation. It is difficult to circumscribe the theoretical areas precisely. The Associati ...

. She became a researcher for the Systems Research Institute of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

while working towards a Ph.D. at the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg () is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively young campus university with a ...

in Germany, where her interests turned to applied mathematics. She completed the Ph.D. in 1992. Her doctoral dissertation, ''Flow through Fissured Media: Mathematical Analysis and Numerical Approach'', was supervised by . Keeping her research position at the Polish Academy of Sciences, she returned to the Warsaw University of Technology as an assistant professor in 1993. She visited

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in the US in 1993–1995, and in 1995 moved to the US as a lecturer at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, becoming a researcher at the university's Center for Subsurface Modeling in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences in 1998. She took her present position at Oregon State University in 2003, beginning as an assistant professor, and was promoted to associate professor in 2006 and full professor in 2012. She began working as a program director at the National Science Foundation in 2019. While at Oregon State, she returned to Poland in 2009–2010 as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

, and completed a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

through the Warsaw University of Technology in 2011.

Recognition

In 2020, Peszyńska was named a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, "for outstanding contributions to multidisciplinary mathematical and computational modeling of flow and transport in porous media". She is the 2021 recipient of the

SIAM Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Activity Group on Geosciences Career Prize.

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peszynska, Malgorzata 1962 births Living people Warsaw University of Technology alumni University of Augsburg alumni Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology University of Texas at Austin faculty Oregon State University faculty United States National Science Foundation officials Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science