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Dr. Nate Brown

  • Email: nbrownmath.psu.edu
  • Website
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Status: Faculty
  • Department: Math,
  • Will Mentor: Doctoral students, Pre-doctoral students

Areas of Expertise

Pure Mathematics,

Research Interests

Functional Analysis, specializing in operator algebras

Bio

I grew up in the rural town of Blissfield, Michigan. One of eight kids and a first-gen college student, I completed an undergraduate degree at Lake Superior State University. Then I went to Purdue University, receiving a PhD in mathematics under the advisement of Marius Dadarlat. After postdoc stints at Institut Henri Poincare, UC Berkeley, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and Michigan State, I got a job at Penn State. They've regretted it ever since. ;-) The majority of my scientific work is in operator algebras, a branch of functional analysis which arose from quantum mechanics in the early 20th century. This field has strong connections with many areas of mathematics such as topology, measure theory, geometry, dynamical systems, probability, and even numerical analysis. Recently, however, I've also been working on social scientific/education projects related to diversity in STEM fields. Specifically, I'm interested in teacher-student dynamics in gateway math classes and how they relate to affective variables in students (e.g. sense of belonging or self efficacy) as well as outcomes like grades or persistence.