Mathematician Tapia earns honors for distinguished public service

Mathematician Tapia earns honors for distinguished public service

BY JADE BOYD
Rice News staff

Rice University mathematician Richard Tapia has received the American Mathematical Society’s (AMS) Award for Distinguished Public Service.

The award is given every two years to a research mathematician who has made a distinguished contribution to the mathematics profession through public service in the preceding five years. It was presented during the society’s annual meeting Jan. 8 in Phoenix.

”Richard Tapia fully exemplifies all the traits this award seeks to extol,” said Rice President Malcolm Gillis. ”Quite apart from his many contributions to his discipline, Richard is a tireless worker for anything that advances opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women.”

AMS is honoring Tapia for inspiring and teaching thousands of people, from elementary school students to senior citizens, to study and appreciate the mathematical sciences. The prize citation states, ”His dedication to opening doors for underrepresented minorities and women is legendary, as is his determination to reach students who would otherwise be discouraged or overlooked. Educational and outreach programs that he has founded and leads, such as the Rice University Center for Excellence and Equity in Education (CEEE), represent a continuing tribute to his energy and perseverance.”

Tapia, the Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics, also serves as associate director of graduate studies and as director of CEEE. He is internationally known for his research in the computational and mathematical sciences and is a national leader in education and outreach programs.

Tapia is a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the premier professional organization for Hispanic and Native American scientists. Among his many honors, Tapia was the first native-born Hispanic inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, and he was appointed by President Clinton to the National Science Board in 1996. The White House that same year recognized Tapia again as a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

William Symes, the Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics and chair of the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, said it is good to see Tapia’s exceptional leadership recognized nationally.

”Richard’s dedicated and powerful advocacy for minority access to science and engineering educational and career opportunities has had enormous positive impact in our department’s program and at Rice generally — but reaches far beyond campus boundaries,” Symes said.

Born in Los Angeles to parents who emigrated separately from Mexico as young teenagers in search of educational opportunities for themselves and future generations, Tapia was the first in his family to attend college.

He joined Rice’s faculty in 1970 and helped build the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics (previously mathematical sciences). He served as department chair from 1978 to 1983. His research is in the area of numerical optimization methods. He has authored or co-authored two books and more than 80 research papers and directly supervised 31 doctoral students.

Due to Tapia’s efforts, Rice has received national recognition for its educational outreach programs and Rice’s Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics has become a national leader in producing women and underrepresented minority doctoral recipients in the mathematical sciences.

Under Tapia’s direction, Rice’s National Science Foundation-funded Alliances for Graduate Education in the Professoriate Program provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in science, mathematics and engineering to participate in university activities and work for the summer under the guidance of Rice researchers. Through CEEE, Tapia has helped hundreds of K-12 teachers through summer programs like TeacherTECH.