Shelly Harvey

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Shelly Harvey

Professor of Mathematics Rice University University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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I grew up in California and I always loved math and puzzles.  As a result, everyone always said I should be an engineer.  So I went to college at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo planning to be an engineer.  However, I started taking math classes and really enjoyed them.   I loved learning why something was true but I didn't want to end up teaching high school.  I learned that there were so many other options for math majors besides teaching K-12 and decided to switch to math my sophomore year.   I was lucky enough to participate in two REUs (at LSU and Cornell) and found that I enjoyed research and wanted to go to graduate school (also, the more math I learned, the more I realized how little I knew). I went to Rice University, in Houston, TX, for graduate school as I liked being in a small department and was interested in geometry and topology (plus, I don't like cold weather).  After graduate school, I got an NSF postdoctoral fellowship which I took at UC San Diego and then MIT.    Then, in 2005, I started a tenure track position at Rice University where I was the first tenure track woman ever in the department.  I am now a full professor at Rice.  One of the favorite parts of my job is having graduate students and postdocs, in addition to teaching.   I love music and when I am not doing math, I like to listen and "play" (I am not very good but I enjoy it) music with a few other mathematicians in the department.  My weirdest hobby is probably headphones.  I also love trying new food and new restaurants!