Just a little musical interlude to introduce today's mathematician profile, this rendition of "The Holly and the Ivy":
Holly Krieger must have her own fan club… or an active stalker… because twice as many requests have come in for a “profile” of her as of any other mathematician (...specifically, she’s had 2 requests with only 1 each for a few other people).
I used to think that Dr. Krieger was British born-and-raised ’til I was pleasantly surprised to discover she was not, and she & I actually share some commonalities (despite the fact that as a Scorpio, she is horribly incompatible with me). She was born in Champaign, Illinois, less than an hour from my birthplace, and she went to high school in Naperville, just outside Chicago, less than an hour from the prep school I attended.
In one other overlap, I was happy to see her mention David Hilbert (who I profiled HERE, and is one of my favorites also) as a mathematician she would most like to take a class from.
But that’s where the commonalities end, as her hair is red, and my remaining strands are a tad gray-tinged… well, white… er, uhh, no, I mean silver, yeah that's it, Sean-Connery-silver.
Holly attended the University of Illinois-Champaign (where many of my friends matriculated and/or smoked pot) for her Bachelors degree, and the U. of I. Chicago to complete her Masters, and PhD. in mathematics, though she considered majoring in biology, psychology, Italian, and computer science before settling on math… much as I considered astrology, homeopathy, phrenology, and fermentology, before finally selecting whatever the heck my major turned out to be, lo those many years ago.
She also spent academic time at Berkeley and MIT, and since 2016 has been employed at the University of Cambridge where they speak British. If she punches up her resume just a little bit more she may eventually qualify for a teaching position at Pomona College.
Despite the name similarity, Holly is, so far as I can tell, in no way genealogically-related to Freddy Krueger, who I don’t think ever got beyond high school algebra. I'm still checking to see if she has any possible connection to Justin Kruger of Dunning-Kruger fame.
Her primary area of mathematics interest, is in “dynamics” or the long-term behavior of systems, like why, after 240+ years of ebb-and-flow, the U.S. suddenly finds fascism so downright alluring (even Terry Tao is stumped by that one, though Kurt Gödel long ago foresaw it). She is also interested in number theory, but then hey, what would be the friggin' point of being a math major if you weren't interested in number theory [just my editorial comment].
Unlike several other female mathematicians, I couldn’t find a single photo of Dr. Krieger with teal hair; she does admit to having tattoos however, but says none of them are mathematical... leading one to ponder what and where they are -- and if she won't tell, readers will be forced to use their imaginations. Given her abiding interest in the Mandelbrot Set though, it seems we ought recommend this one to her:
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| (from HERE) |
...or, if she's slightly more ambitious... or drunk... perhaps this:
In several of her interviews Holly mentions how important social life was for her, and that her discomfort with the nerdiness (and in some instances, arrogance) of mathematicians was part of an initial hesitation to even enter the field. But she picked her colleagues and mentors carefully over the years and emerged a rousing, and sane, success. It all couldn’t help but make me think of the old math joke (indeed probably older than Holly is):
In several of her interviews Holly mentions how important social life was for her, and that her discomfort with the nerdiness (and in some instances, arrogance) of mathematicians was part of an initial hesitation to even enter the field. But she picked her colleagues and mentors carefully over the years and emerged a rousing, and sane, success. It all couldn’t help but make me think of the old math joke (indeed probably older than Holly is):
“What’s the difference between an introvert and extrovert mathematician?: An introvert mathematician looks at his shoes while talking to you. An extrovert mathematician looks at your shoes.”
Then again, IF you wear Crocs I’ll ALWAYS look at your shoes (with envy)… LOVE me some Crocs! ...but then who doesn't:
Holly says that at her 10-year high school reunion everyone, except her, seemed to know she would turn out to be a mathematician -- heck, I didn’t know at my 25-year reunion what I would turn out to be! ...and seeing what some of my classmates turned out to be is a little scary (not that I would ever mention Ricky by name).
Holly says that at her 10-year high school reunion everyone, except her, seemed to know she would turn out to be a mathematician -- heck, I didn’t know at my 25-year reunion what I would turn out to be! ...and seeing what some of my classmates turned out to be is a little scary (not that I would ever mention Ricky by name).
It’s clear from reading some of her interviews that “proofs” played a major role in leading Krieger down the path to math degrees. Yes, proofs, that bore the bejeebers out of so many, were the alluring stimulus that produced an irresistible click inside Holly’s head which she found worth pursuing (...clicks in my head on-the-other-hand are more likely to indicate dentures coming loose).
So if you’re a number-nerd, or just someone with a weakness for redheads, you can join 7500+ others following Dr. Krieger on Twitter at:
https://twitter.com/hollykrieger
[...I was mortified to discover that on Twitter she DOESN'T follow me, but DOES follow "Cambridge Cows" (who aren't even spherical) -- somehow though, I'll survive and moooove on with my life.]
[...I was mortified to discover that on Twitter she DOESN'T follow me, but DOES follow "Cambridge Cows" (who aren't even spherical) -- somehow though, I'll survive and moooove on with my life.]
Holly has done several Numberphile videos:
sample: here she is explaining the "centrifuge (balancing) problem":
Brady Haran no doubt keeps her on Numberphile because she has better hair than Matt Parker and her laugh is contagious... or infectious... or recursive... or something.
On the “My Favorite Theorem” podcast she talked up the "Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem," and she does it even while talking down Dr. Brouwer himself a tad:
On the “My Favorite Theorem” podcast she talked up the "Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem," and she does it even while talking down Dr. Brouwer himself a tad:
https://kpknudson.com/my-favorite-theorem/2018/8/20/episode-25-holly-krieger
(...but she notes that her favorite theorem changes often, so I suspect come Saturday night, and hunger pangs, the Pizza Theorem may be her favorite.)
(...but she notes that her favorite theorem changes often, so I suspect come Saturday night, and hunger pangs, the Pizza Theorem may be her favorite.)
…and finally a couple of past interviews with her (from which I stole whatever information in this-here profile is actually accurate):
We should enjoy many more years of Dr. Krieger spreading the good news (and dynamics) of mathematics far and wide. Despite extensive investigation I could not determine if Holly's fondness for the UK was more the result of a massive crush on Matt Parker or Marcus du Sautoy, but in any event I think we ought encourage her to Brexit Britain and return to the States (...even though I realize, at this point, that's a bit like asking someone to leave one nuthouse just to go to another). Oy.
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Prior math profiles have been of:
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