PRIMES: Advisory Board

Michael Sipser is Head of the Mathematics Department at MIT. He is a theoretical computer scientist, member of CSAIL, and Professor of Applied Mathematics. Professor Sipser's research areas are in algorithms and complexity theory, specifically efficient error correcting codes, interactive proof systems, randomness, quantum computation, and establishing the inherent computational difficulty of problems. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Noah Arbesfeld, a graduate of Lexington High, is now a math major at MIT. He was awarded the 6th place and a scholarship in the 2009 Intel Science Talent Search finals for a project in abstract algebra, which he had carried out at the Research Science Institute (RSI) under the supervision of Pavel Etingof and David Jordan.

Martina Balagovic, formerly a graduate student at MIT and an RSI mentor, is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of York. She mentored two high school students, Arjun Puranik and Anirudha Balasubramanian, who became, respectively, a finalist and a semifinalist at national science competitions.

Mira Bernstein is Executive Director of Canada/USA Mathcamp, a binational summer program for mathematically talented high-school students. She received her PhD in mathematics from Harvard University in 1999, did her postdoctoral work at University of California Berkeley, and taught mathematics at Wellesley College, before joining the National Bureau of Economic Research to work on a project in health economics. Her current mathematical interests are in statistics and applied mathematics.

Tatyana Finkelstein is an award-winning mathematics teacher who has taught for over a decade in the Lexington Public School system after teaching mathematics for a decade in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is a 2006 recipient of the Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching Edyth May Sliffe Award. Mrs. Finkelstein has also been a counselor in the PROMYS for Teachers program at Boston University.

David Jerison is Professor of Mathematics in the Mathematics Department at MIT. He is currently Chair of the Pure Mathematics Committee and directs SPUR, the mathematics department's summer undergraduate research program as well as the mathematics component of the Research Science Institute (RSI). Professor Jerison's research is focused on partial differential equations and Fourier analysis. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Gigliola Staffilani is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Mathematics in the Mathematics Department at MIT. Professor Staffilani is an analyst, with a concentration on dispersive nonlinear partial differential equations. Professor Staffilani co-chairs the Graduate Student Committee.

Richard Stanley is the Norman Levinson Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Mathematics Department at MIT. He led the combinatorics section of the Clay Research Academy for high school students. He runs a problem-solving seminar that prepares MIT students for the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Professor Stanley's research concerns problems in algebraic combinatorics. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arkady Vaintrob is Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon. Before coming to the U.S., for many years he taught mathematics classes for exceptionally talented students at the famous Moscow School 57. He mentored two top winners in national U.S. science competitions, Dmitry Vaintrob and Eric Larson. His research interests are algebra, algebraic geometry, and topology.

Shawna Young is Executive Director of the Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP) and Director of the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) Program at MIT. Ms. Young received a BS in Chemistry from Howard University and MAT in Science Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has a great deal of experience working with students and helping them prepare for college and careers in science.