Emily Witt, associate professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas, has been awarded the 2022-2023 Ruth I. Michler Memorial Prize from the Association of Women in Mathematics and Cornell University. Dr. Witt was selected for her research accomplishments in commutative algebra. Her results on local cohomology modules based on applications of invariant theory were found to be groundbreaking, and her techniques were called innovative and broadly applicable.
The Ruth I. Michler Memorial Prize was established through a donation from Ruth Michler’s parents, Gerhard and Waltraud Michler of Essen, Germany. Ruth Michler was an associate professor of mathematics at the University of North Texas. She died in a 2000 accident at the age of 33. The award grants a midcareer mathematician a residential fellowship in the Cornell University mathematics department without teaching obligations.
“It is an honor to receive the Michler Memorial Prize. Ruth Michler’s work in the field of algebra makes the award especially meaningful to me. I am grateful to the Association of Women in Mathematics and the Michler family for the opportunity to interact with Cornell’s fantastic researchers in algebra and geometry and related fields,” Dr. Witt said.
Dr. Witt joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 2015 and was promoted to associate professor in 2020. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan.