93. Joshua Brandon Holden, Math Professor and Author of The Mathematics of Secrets
The 92 Report
Joshua Brandon Holden, the author of The Mathematics of Secrets, Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption, graduated with a degree in pure math and went on to teach at the University of Massachusetts and Duke. He discovered that he was spending most of his time on teaching, so he sought jobs where they would reward teaching. He then worked at the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, where he did both teaching and research. Common Misconceptions about Cryptography Joshua discusses common misconceptions about cryptography and its connection to the internet. He explains that...
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92. Mark Jacobstein, Accidental Entrepreneur
The 92 Report
Mark Jacobstein resides in Stanford, California with his wife, two children, and his mother in law. Mark's career has primarily focused on entrepreneurial technology, primarily in health tech, biotech, molecular diagnostics, and digital health arenas. After Cambridge, he worked with Scott Murphy, a close friend and business partner. He moved to California in 2003 to start a technology company and has been there ever since. He lives on the Stanford campus, which allows his children to grow up on a college campus. Founding a Fantasy Sports Business Mark shares his journey from writing...
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91. Andreas Stavropoulos, Entering the Third Act
The 92 Report
Andreas Stavropoulos, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, came to the United States from Greece at 18 and has been in the United States ever since. His big moves include marrying his high school sweetheart, arranging their lives around graduate school, medical school, business school, and moving to California. He is now 55-years-old and is excited about the third act of his life, where he can choose where to spend his time more than he used to. A Career as a Venture Capitalist Andreas started his career as a venture capitalist in 1999 and has been doing so for over two and a half years. He...
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90. Shannon Frison, Marine and Judge
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Shannon Frison joined the United States Marine Corps during her time in law school. She spent her second year at officer candidate school and became commissioned as an officer. After law school, she returned to Massachusetts, worked for a year at the TAs office, took the bar, and went on active duty with the Marine Corps. After serving at Marine Corps Air Station, New River, North Carolina, she worked for a litigation firm called Dwyer and Clora before opening a law firm. In 2009, she applied for the bench in Massachusetts and was appointed to the Boston Municipal Court. She then...
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89. Anastasia Fernands, Patent Litigator
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Anastasia Fernands has been practicing law since graduating from NYU. She started practicing in Boston at Hutchins, Wheeler and Dittmar, which was the oldest continuously running firm in Boston at the time. Anastasia has since moved to New York and now practices at Quinn Emanuel. Anastasia’s career primarily focuses on intellectual property litigation, particularly patent litigation since the mid to late 90s. At that time there were two schools of thought on patent litigation: technical people who understood technology and those who were litigators by trade. There was a...
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88. Brett Janis, Principal at Strong Bridge Advisers
The 92 Report
After Brett Janis left Harvard, he worked as a journalist in Southeast Asia and later attended Georgetown University's Masters of Science and Foreign Service program, which introduced him to the International Affairs world. After a stint in Egypt, Brett joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1995, where he focused on economic issues related to the Southeast Asia crisis, including issues related to banks and financial markets. He left the CIA just before 9/11, which was a critical moment in his life. He went back to Asia and started a business which dealt with finances for family...
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87. Richard Primus, Constitutional Law Professor
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Richard Primus initially had no idea what he wanted to do professionally after graduation, but eventually realized that he wanted to be a professor with interests in both law and political theory. He took HW Perry's constitutional interpretation class and decided to pursue graduate school and political theory before going to law school. Richard decided to study political theory at Oxford with the idea of becoming a law professor. He found his studies there focused on the abstract nature of political theory at the time, which required abstract questions about justice, liberty, and...
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86. Chris Ball, Research Scientist in the ElectroScience Laboratory
The 92 Report
Show Notes: After graduation, Chris Ball spent his summer working in Cambridge before returning to Columbus, Ohio, where he began graduate school in physics at The Ohio State University. He worked with Professor Frank DeLuca, a world-renowned researcher in microwave spectroscopy. Chris’ research focused on the microwave absorption of sulfur dioxide and its relationship to NASA's Microwave Limb Sounder instrument. Studying Interstellar Bands During his time at OSU, Chris collaborated with Professor Patrick Thaddeus from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who was looking to hire...
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85. Tom Hughes, Actor, Consultant and Coach
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Tom Hughes initially planned to pursue an MD, PhD, and work on multiple sclerosis, but decided against it due to his poor chemistry skills. Instead, he focused on being an English professor, inspired by his father, who had been an English professor. During his senior year, his brother joined him and encouraged him to pursue his passion for acting. Tom auditioned for two of his favorite plays, The Lion in Winter and The Foreigner, and was cast in both of them. This was a rare moment in life where everything fell in his direction, and he was cast in all of the shows he auditioned...
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84. Candy Gunther Brown, Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Candy Gunther Brown, professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University and co-founder of the Global Medical Research Institute, discusses empirical research on prayer for healing, her own miracle story, and yoga in public schools. Candy has held her current position since 2006. She has been studying mostly Christianity in the United States and globally since 2006, however, her specific focus on healing practices has led to including world religions in her studies. She initially focused on the history of Christianity, but later realized that much of the growth of Christianity was...
info_outlineWill Bachman is hosting a conversation with Jamylle Carter, a member of the Harvard and Radcliffe class of 1992. Jamylle graduated from Harvard with a degree in mathematics and went on to complete a PhD in math from UCLA. After UCLA, she also held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications in the University of Minnesota.
Math Think Tanks and Researching Algorithms
Will and Jamylle had a conversation about math think tanks, in which Jamylle described her experience. She had spent four years in a math think tank at a university, and then another four years at a Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. Jamylle fell in love with the Bay Area and decided to stay, working as an adjunct professor, running a Math Circle and working at a science museum in San Francisco. She has been a math professor at Diablo Valley College since 2009. Jamylle explained that a math think tank is a place funded by the National Science Foundation and other private funders for mathematicians to leave their university appointments and focus on their research with other people in the field. Jamylle's research was applied math, and it was for image processing. Jamylle was researching a new algorithm to solve a mathematical problem. The problem was related to blurring or noise in an image, and the goal was to approximate the original picture as closely as possible. She was looking at optimization methods, which are mathematical techniques that can find the best answer to a problem.
Teaching Math in the Math Circle Program
Jamylle then went on to explain a math circle she organized for middle school kids. The math circle was inspired by a program from Eastern Europe that was designed to expose kids to higher level math. The math circle would also give kids a chance to struggle with a problem and get excited about learning. Jamylle learned more about the program while at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
In 2007-2008, the MSRI sponsored a Berkeley Math Circle for the children of professors and wealthy families. Seeing the need for a Math Circle for a different demographic, Jamylle proposed an Oakland Math Circle for black middle school students in order to challenge the idea that black people can't like math. With the help of the Exploratorium, the Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, and the Museum of African American Technology, she was able to get grants totaling $8,000 to run the Oakland Math Circle. The Math Circle ran hands-on activities to engage students, teaching them that it was okay to be both black and like math.
She taught all the modules, did the recruitment and covered topics such as rocket science, probability and music and math. She also mentioned that in minoritized spaces, students tend to work alone, which can be due to racism, fear of being too nerdy, or fear that they won't be seen as capable due to their race. Carter's motivation for starting the Math Circle program was to provide a space where Black kids could come together and enjoy doing math without such pressures.
Deborah Hughes Hallett was a Harvard graduate student who eventually became faculty in the Harvard Math Department. She never earned her doctorate, and unfortunately the math department still never treated her like real faculty. She was also at the forefront of the calculus reform movement and wrote textbooks to help teach the subject. Deb was an important figure in the Math Department, providing guidance and support to students in need and advocating for reform in the subject.
Designing a New Math Curriculum
Jamylle and Will discussed math education and its importance. Will then asked about how to build a high school math curriculum from the ground up. Jamylle believes that everyone should have a solid background in arithmetic, such as fractions, decimals, and percentages. She also suggests introducing courses on probability, statistics, computer science, and using spreadsheets. Additionally, she wants to focus on dimensional analysis and number sense in order to help students become more comfortable with math. Finally, she believes it’s equally important to teach math in a way that avoids creating math phobias and traumas, and to make sure teachers are supported and not overworked.
Jamylle talks about the courses and professors that have had an impact on her life. Carter starts by talking about her undergraduate advisor Deborah Hughes Hallett, who she credits with helping her to graduate. A class that stood out was music 51, a year long music theory course.
Timestamps
08:24 Investigating Mathematical Methods for Image Optimization
11:15 Analysis of Total Variation Method for Image Processing
15:50 Optimization Problems and Finite Time Solutions
18:13 Image Enhancement Technology
20:00 Math Circles and Problem Solving
31:46 Intersecting Racial Identity and Mathematical Affinity
40:13 Comparing Experiences at Harvard and a Historically Black College
48:19 Supportive Mentorship in the Math Department
52:58 Music Theory and Performance
1:00:59 Exploring Equity in Mathematics Education
Links:
https://mathematicallygiftedandblack.com/honorees/jamylle-carter/
CONTACT INFO:
https://twitter.com/CarterJamylle
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamylle-carter-3184259/