Rekha Rachel Thomas is a mathematician and

operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...

er. She works as a professor of mathematics at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, and was the Robert R. and Elaine F. Phelps Professor there from 2008 until 2012. Her research interests include

mathematical optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...

and

computational algebra A computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are mathematical equation solving and the execution of computer algorithms. Mechanical or electronic devices (or, historica ...

. Thomas earned a PhD in

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1994, supervised by

Bernd Sturmfels Bernd Sturmfels (born March 28, 1962, in Kassel, West Germany) is a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley and is a director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig si ...

; her dissertation concerned Gröbner bases and

integer programming An integer programming problem is a mathematical optimization or feasibility program in which some or all of the variables are restricted to be integers. In many settings the term refers to integer linear programming (ILP), in which the objective ...

. Prior to joining the University of Washington in 2000, she did postdoctoral studies at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and the

Zuse Institute Berlin The Zuse Institute Berlin (abbreviated ZIB, or ''Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin'') is a research institute for applied mathematics and computer science on the campus of Freie Universität Berlin in Dahlem, Berlin, Germany ...

, and held a faculty position at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

beginning in 1995. Thomas is the author of the textbook '' Lectures in Geometric Combinatorics'' (Student Mathematical Library, 33,

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

, 2006). She was a plenary speaker at the 21st International Symposium on Mathematical Programming in 2012.Speaker biography
ISMP 2012, retrieved 2014-12-31. In 2013 she became one of the inaugural

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

s of the

.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2014-12-31.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rekha R. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Cornell University alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty University of Washington faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians Combinatorialists American operations researchers American academics of Indian descent