Tatiana Shubin is a Soviet and American mathematician known for her work developing math circles, social structures for the mathematical enrichment of secondary-school students, especially among the

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

and other Native American people. She is a professor of mathematics at

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...

in California.

Education and career

Shubin is originally from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, the daughter of a criminologist and a lawyer; she is of Jewish descent on her father's side. When she was ten, her family moved to

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, where her father had taken a university teaching position. After competing in the All Siberian Mathematics Competition she was invited to a special science boarding school in

Akademgorodok Akademgorodok ( rus, Академгородок, p=ɐkəˌdʲemɡərɐˈdok, "Academic Town") is a part of the Sovetsky City District, Novosibirsk, Sovetsky District of the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, located south of the city center and abou ...

, but after spending 8th grade there her parents brought her back to Almaty where she finished high school at age 16. She studied for five years at

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, earning a bachelor's degree there, but was expelled for non-participation in political activities and instead earned a master's degree at Kazakh State University in Almaty. After obtaining a letter of invitation from an Israeli, she was allowed to leave the Soviet Union, spent nine months in Austria, and then emigrated to the US in 1978, with support from the Tolstoy Foundation. She completed a Ph.D. at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

in 1983, and joined the San José State University faculty as a lecturer in 1985.

Math circles

Shubin founded the San José Math Circles. She co-founded the first math teachers' circle in 2006, and is a leader of the Math Teachers’ Circle Network that developed out of this circle. She was a co-founder of the Navajo Nation Math Circles project in 2012, and is a director of the Alliance of Indigenous Math Circles.

Publications

Shubin is the coeditor of several books on mathematics: *''Mathematical Adventures for Students and Amateurs'' (edited with David F. Hayes, Mathematical Association of America, 2004) *''Expeditions in Mathematics'' (edited with

Gerald L. Alexanderson Gerald Lee Alexanderson (1933–2020) was an American mathematician. He was the Michael & Elizabeth Valeriote Professor of Science at Santa Clara University, and in 1997–1998 was president of the Mathematical Association of America. He was also ...

and David F. Hayes, Mathematical Association of America, 2011) *''Inspiring Mathematics: Lessons from the Navajo Nation Math Circles'' (edited with Dave Auckly, Bob Klein, and Amanda Serenevy, MSRI Mathematical Circles Library 24, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and American Mathematical Society, 2019) Her work developing math circles among the Navajo was featured in the documentary film ''Navajo Math Circles'' (2016), broadcast on the

Public Broadcasting System The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prom ...

Recognition

Shubin was the 2006 winner of the Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics of the Golden Section (Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii) of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

. She was the 2017 winner of the Mary P. Dolciani Award of the Mathematical Association of America. She has been named a Sequoyah Fellow by the

American Indian Science and Engineering Society The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association with the goal of substantially increasing American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, First Nation and other ...

. The

Todích’íí’nii (Bitter Water) clan have adopted her as a member.

References

External links

Home page at SJSU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shubin, Tatiana Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Soviet mathematicians Soviet women mathematicians Soviet people of Jewish descent Soviet emigrants to the United States Ukrainian mathematics educators Ukrainian women educators American mathematics educators American women educators Moscow State University alumni Al-Farabi Kazakh National University alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni San Jose State University faculty 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians