Christine Elizabeth Heitsch is a mathematician whose research involves the

biomolecular structure Biomolecular structure is the intricate folded, three-dimensional shape that is formed by a molecule of protein, DNA, or RNA, and that is important to its function. The structure of these molecules may be considered at any of several length sca ...

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

. She is a professor of mathematics in the

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

School of Mathematics, and the founding director of the Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology at Georgia Tech.

Education and career

Heitsch graduated in 1994 from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. She completed her Ph.D. at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 2000. Her dissertation, ''Computational Complexity of Generalized Pattern Matching'', was jointly supervised by John Rhodes and John R. Stallings. After postdoctoral research at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, she joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2006, and was promoted to full professor in 2016. At Georgia Tech, as well as being a professor of mathematics, she also holds courtesy appointments in the School of Computational Science & Engineering, and in the School of Biology.

Recognition

In 2019 the University of Illinois Department of Mathematics gave Heitsch their annual Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heitsch, Christine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American mathematicians University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Georgia Tech faculty 21st-century American women mathematicians