GGAM Update, 2026

This is my first year as GGAM Chair and the first time I have the honor of writing this column. I took over from Javier Arsuaga last summer. Javier did an incredible job moving GGAM forward—many thanks to him—and I am grateful to be able to build on and continue that work.

I think of GGAM as a Math + X program. Mathematics is at the center: it connects us and unifies our activities. All of our students begin their studies with core mathematics courses, and throughout their time in the program they are further connected through the shared experience of teaching mathematics—with all the rewards and challenges that entails. Our faculty use mathematical methods in their research and teach courses where mathematics is front and center.

If Math is the core of our program, then X represents the breadth of research interests among our faculty and students: data science, mathematical biology, AI, quantum information, statistics, and much more. With a bit of exaggeration, it would be hard to find a STEM discipline that is not represented in GGAM.

With the help of AI, I created a visualization of this idea and wanted to share it with you.

Beyond this diversity of thought, what makes me most excited to serve as Chair is our outstanding students and faculty. The role comes with a daily mix of good and bad news, let me share a few of the good ones (and keep the bad to myself). Lauren Mossman and Kim Calabrese received prestigious scholarships from the Simons Foundation and NSF, respectively. Vidushi Mittal and fellow students started a graduate student chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics. Jon Forstater and Kelli Gutierrez won best poster awards at a SIAM meeting. I am proud of our students for bringing the energy and initiative to our program. You can keep up with more GGAM news on our website.

Returning to AI: in keeping with the times, GGAM faculty have rapidly incorporated machine learning and data science into their research. In a plenary talk at the GGAM mini-conference, Applied Mathematics in the Age of Data, Yunpeng Shi highlighted work by 25 GGAM faculty using these tools. I have been particularly impressed by how quickly both faculty and students have adapted to the new technological developments.

Let me mention one example that resonates with my experience as a parent of two young children. One of our Ph.D. students, Jorge Murillo, recently explained to me that babies need to hear on the order of 10 million words to learn language. In his dissertation, he is investigating why machine learning systems require far more data to achieve comparable levels of language proficiency. 

How you can support our program

One question I often get from prospective students is whether GGAM has a structured pipeline for industry internships. I would like to be able to answer this with a clear “yes.” At present, the reality is more informal: many of our faculty collaborate with industry partners, and our students regularly find internships and jobs through these connections. For example, two out of our last three graduates went on to positions in leading high-tech companies, and many students secure summer internships each year.

However, there is a clear opportunity to do better. My goal is to build a more visible and reliable pathway connecting GGAM students with industry and research organizations. This is where our broader community—alumni, collaborators, and friends of the program—can play a crucial role.

There are several ways you can help:

• Internship and job opportunities: If your company or institution offers internships or entry-level positions, we would be very interested in connecting you with our students.
• Industry engagement: We welcome opportunities for guest talks, informal visits, or participation in events where students can learn about career paths outside academia.
• Mentorship and advising: Even a single conversation with a student about career trajectories, expectations, or skill preparation can have a meaningful impact.
• Longer-term partnerships: We are interested in building sustained collaborations, including recurring internship pipelines or joint projects.

GGAM students are trained in rigorous mathematics and bring strong analytical skills across a wide range of domains. If you are interested in connecting with the program, please feel free to reach out to me ([email protected]) or fill out the contact form.

Incoming cohort

This year we sent 35 offers, of which 20 were accepted. A 60% yield is a strong outcome and reflects the outstanding work of our admissions committee and all who contributed to the GGAM mini-conference and open house. I am very much looking forward to working with this incoming cohort in the fall.

Thanks!

Running GGAM would not be possible without the exceptional staff in the Mathematics Department—especially graduate coordinator Minh Nguyen and CAO Tina Denena. Thank you. The program is sustained by the engagement of our faculty and students; thank you for your contributions.

We are a strong, vibrant interdisciplinary program that is growing stronger every year.