Introduction
Pamela Estephania Harris (born November 28, 1983) is a Mexican-American mathematician, educator and advocate for immigrants. She is an assistant professor at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and co-founder of the online platform Lathisms. She is also an editor of the e-mentoring blog of the American Mathematical Society (AMS).
Early life and career
Harris first emigrated with her family from Mexico to the United States when she was 8 years old. They returned to Mexico, before eventually settling in Wisconsin when Harris was 12. Because she was undocumented, she could not attend university. Instead, she studied at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, where she earned two associate degrees. After she married a US citizen and her immigration status changed, she transferred to Marquette University, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She went on to complete her master's degree and in 2012 a PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her PhD dissertation was advised by Jeb F. Willenbring. Harris was a Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) fellow in 2012. She became a Davies Research Fellow at the United States Military Academy and, in 2016, an assistant professor at Williams College.
Harris studies algebraic combinatorics, in particular the representation of Lie algebras. In order to understand this representation she studies vector partition functions, in particular Kostant's partition function. She is also interested in graph theory and number theory.In 2016 she co-founded an online platform called 'Lathisms' which aims to promote the contributions of Latinxs and Hispanics in mathematics.
Recognition
In 2019, Harris won the Henry L. Alder Award of the Mathematical Association of America, a national teaching award for young faculty, for her mentorship towards undergraduate research and for her "fierce advocate for a diverse and inclusive mathematics community". She further received the early career Faculty Mentor Award from the Council of Undergraduate Research.
She was an invited plenary speaker for Mathematical Association of American at the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings. In 2019 she was a keynote speaker at national conference of SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science).
In 2018 Harris was featured in the book Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics.