Welcome! I am Alexander Diaz-Lopez, your new co-editor for this blog. 
I’m a faculty at Villanova University (go Nova!), got my PhD in 2016 from the University of Notre Dame, and work in the areas of Coxeter group theory and algebraic combinatorics. Last but not least, I’m boricua!
Among my recent non-research projects, I served as Associate Editor of Notices of the AMS from 2016-2018, co-founded Lathisms (Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences), co-founded the Villanova DREAMS program, and served as part of the Math Task Force for SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science).
So, back to this blog. My plan is to write 6-8 blog posts, most of them on professional development topics but some about my personal experiences. The topics include creating a motivational (math) syllabus, first day of class activities, AMS-MAA-SIAM periodicals, open-source books, grant opportunities, and self-help. So, stay tuned and subscribe to this blog on the right column —>.
While I work on all that stuff, here are some other cool resources for new faculty that have benefited me one way or another:
- AMS Simons Travel Grant – $4,000 travel funds for two years (you must have completed your PhD within the last four years to be eligible)
- MathSciNet – a super cool feature I like and use a lot is that you can see which papers have cited a paper you are interested in.
- MAA Project NExT – professional development program that addresses all aspect of an academic career. It’s designed for new or recent PhD’s. I can’t say enough great things about Project NExT.
- REUF – An REU for faculty? Yes! Supported by the NSF, AIM and ICERM organize this weeklong program for faculty interested in mentoring undergraduates. The program is designed to introduce faculty to research areas/problems that are accessible for undergraduates. I did the program and am still collaborating with the colleagues I met there.
From left to right: Mohamed Omar, Pamela Harris, Erik Insko, and myself. Photo taken by IAS.
- IAS Summer Collaborators Program and SQuARES – both are programs that allow you to spend time with collaborators to focus on research. I did the IAS program and it was a blast! I worked with the amazing Mohamed Omar, Pamela Harris, and Erik Insko.
To finish this post, I would like to share a series of interviews we ran in Notices of the AMS with mathematicians from Industry and Academia. All of them have advice for graduate students and PhD+Epsilon faculty.
Industry:
- Helen Moore (Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca)
- Thomas Grandine (Senior Technical Fellow at Boeing)
- Ryan Haskett (Vice-President at Jordan Park Group)
- Sharon Arroyo (Technical Fellow at Boeing) – by M. Lanius
- William Stein (Founder/CEO. SageMath, Inc)
- Reinhard Laubenbacher (Director of the Center for Quantitative Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center) – by M. Lanius
- Lucas Sabalka (Senior Research Officer at Ocuvera) – by M. Lanius
We also had math educator Rochelle Gutierrez (by M. Lanius and S. Sisneros-Thiry) and mathematicians that often appear in the media: Jordan Ellenberg, Kelsey Houston-Edwards, Colin Adams, Arthur Benjamin, and Evelyn Lamb.
And, plenty of other great mathematicians: Ian Agol, Fernando Codá Marques, Elisenda Grigsby, Arlie Petters, Melanie Wood, Po-Shen Loh, Sir Timothy Gowers, Gigliola Staffilani, Lillian Pierce (by L. Flapan), Ciprian Manolescu, Chelsea Walton, Ljudmila Kamenova, Anthony Varilly-Alvarado, Ruth Hass, Ryan Hynd, Wei Ho, Karen Smith (by L. Flapan), Joe Harris (by L. Flapan), and Kathryn Hess (by M. Lanius).
Stay tuned!