Assistant Professor of Mathematics Tracy Weyand, PhD, has been recognized by the Association for Women in Mathematics for her commitment to building communities in which women in mathematics can thrive and feel welcome.

AWM annually presents Service Awards to individuals for helping to promote and support women in mathematics through exceptional voluntary service to the national organization. Weyand will be honored at a reception during the American Mathematical Society’s upcoming Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston.

Shortly after joining the Department of Mathematics faculty in 2017, Weyand helped found the institute’s student AWM chapter and remains its faculty advisor. The chapter has established a strong sense of community among female students majoring in mathematics or other science, technology and engineering academic programs through club meetings, trips to the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics, and social activities such as the campus’ annual Pi Day celebration.

Since 2018, Weyand also has helped the Rose-Hulman AWM chapter organize and host an annual Sonia Kovalevsky Math Day for Girls on campus, when visiting high school girls participate in mathematical-themed activities to encourage their interests in mathematics. These activities have been led by Rose-Hulman mathematics professors and mentored with by AWM chapter members.

AWM’s Service Award citation notes that Weyand’s outreach activities “have been a vital step towards building a more welcoming and inclusive community.”

Weyand also helped found an AWM chapter at Baylor University in 2015 while she was a postdoctoral associate there. She earned a doctorate in mathematics from Texas A&M University after achieving a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Central Florida.

“I was supported by the AWM throughout graduate school and beyond, and I am so grateful that I am now able to provide support, encouragement, and a sense of community to the next generation of mathematicians,” said Weyand. 

At Rose-Hulman, Weyand’s teaching interests include calculus and differential equations, linear algebra, boundary value problems, and real and complex mathematical analysis. Her research is in the areas of analysis and mathematical physics, specializing in spectral graph theory. Of particular interest is the spectra of operators acting on both discrete and metric graphs, as well as properties of the corresponding eigenfunctions.