Vanderbilt’s Nicole Joseph Recognized by the Association for Women in Mathematics

Nicole Joseph, associate professor of mathematics education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, will be presented with the 2023 Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education by the Association for Women in Mathematics. Dr. Joseph will receive her award at the Joint Mathematics Meetings on January 4-7, 2023, in Boston.

According to the Association for Women in Mathematics, “The Hay Award recognizes outstanding achievements in any area of mathematics education. Louise Hay was widely recognized for her contributions to mathematical logic, for her strong leadership as head of the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for her devotion to students, and for her lifelong commitment to nurturing the talent of young women and men.

In its award announcement, the Association for Women in Mathematics noted that Dr. Joseph is being recognized for her “contributions to mathematics education that reflect the values of taking risks and nurturing students’ academic talent that are central to Louise Hay’s legacy.”

Dr. Joseph’s research explores Black women and girls’ experiences and identities in mathematics and how their underrepresentation in mathematics is shaped by whiteness and white supremacy. Dr. Joseph’s research stems from her own experience growing up feeling alone as a Black girl in a mathematics class where other students didn’t look like her. Her experiences shaped her drive to tell the stories of Black girls and women and how they differ from their White girl and Black male counterparts. She is the author of Making Black Girls Count in Math Education: A Black Feminist Vision for Transformative Teaching (Harvard University Press, 2022).

Dr. Joseph joined the Vanderbilt University faculty in 2016. Earlier, she taught at the University of Denver. Dr. Joseph is a graduate of Seattle University, where she majored in business administration. She holds a master’s degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College Northwest in Seattle and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Washington.