Bonita Valerie Saunders is an American mathematician specializing in

mathematical visualization Mathematics, Mathematical phenomena can be understood and explored via Visualization (graphic), visualization. Classically, this consisted of two-dimensional drawings or building three-dimensional models (particularly plaster models in the 19th a ...

. She works at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

in the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division of the Information Technology Laboratory, where she contributes to the

Digital Library of Mathematical Functions Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

as the Visualization Editor and the principal designer of visualizations and graphs.

Professional career

Saunders received her Ph.D. in computational and applied mathematics from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

in 1985. She earned her M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia and her B.A. in Mathematics from the College of William and Mary. She worked at the BDM corporation for four years and has published a number of papers. A list of her papers can be found at the dblp "Computer Science" bibliograph

Her current research interests include, "Visualization of Complex Functions Data, Numerical Software for Special Functions, Numerical Grid Generation, ndNumerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations." Saunders has made a number of contributions to 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 ...

(MAA). From 1999 to 2002, she served as the MD-DC-VA Section treasurer. From 2004 to 2009, she was on the selection committee for the Etta Z. Falconer Lecture (sponsored by the MAA and the Association for Women in Mathematics AWM). She was also on the MAA Business Industry Government Committee from 2012-2017, and was the MD-DC-VA Section Representative to the MAA Congress in 2019. As of 2020 she is on the editorial board for Mathematics Magazine and the

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific soci ...

(SIAM) Board of Trustees.

Awards and honors

The National Association of Mathematicians chose Saunders to give the 2001 Claytor Lecture at the

Joint Mathematics Meetings The Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) is a mathematics conference hosted annually in early January by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Frequently, several other national mathematics organizations also participate. From 1998 to 2020, the JMM ...

. The US Department of Commerce awarded her research group a Gold Medal for Distinguished Scientific/Engineering Achievement in 2011, in recognition for her work in creating the online Digital Library of Mathematical Functions. In 2017, Saunders was awarded the NIST Information Technology Laboratory Outstanding Contribution Award for Excellence in Technical Leadership. In 2018,

Mathematically Gifted & Black Mathematically Gifted & Black (MGB) is a website that features the accomplishments of black scholars in mathematical sciences. In addition to highlighting the work and lives of established mathematicians in the African Diaspora, the platform aims ...

made Saunders a Black History Month honoree. In 2019 she accepted the Excellence in Research in Mathematics and Computer Science award from the Washington Academy of Sciences and became a Fellow of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Saunders will give the 2021 AWM-MAA Etta Zuber Falconer Lecture at

MathFest MathFest is a mathematics conference hosted annually in late summer by the Mathematical Association of America. It is known for its dual focus on teaching and research in mathematics, as well as for student participation. MathFest Locations T ...

2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Bonita V. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians African-American mathematicians Old Dominion University alumni University of Virginia alumni College of William & Mary alumni 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians