Jacqueline Ann Jensen-Vallin is an American mathematician. She is a chair and professor of mathematics at

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

, former

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''

MAA FOCUS ''MAA FOCUS'' is the newsmagazine 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 ...

'', the newsletter 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 ...

(MAA), and a former governor of the Texas Section of the MAA. Her research interests include

combinatorial group theory In mathematics, combinatorial group theory is the theory of free groups, and the concept of a presentation of a group by generators and relations. It is much used in geometric topology, the fundamental group of a simplicial complex having in a na ...

low-dimensional topology In mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of topology that studies manifolds, or more generally topological spaces, of four or fewer dimensions. Representative topics are the theory of 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds, knot theory, ...

, and

knot theory In topology, knot theory is the study of knot (mathematics), mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life, such as those in shoelaces and rope, a mathematical knot differs in that the ends are joined so it cannot be und ...

; she is also known for her work in mathematics education and the history of women in mathematics.

Education and career

Jensen-Vallin did her undergraduate studies at the University of Connecticut, completing a double major in mathematics and psychology in 1995. She went to the University of Oregon for her graduate studies, and completed her doctorate there in 2002. Her dissertation, ''Finding

\pi_2

-Generators for Exotic Homotopy Types of Two-Complexes'', concerned algebraic geometry and was supervised by Micheal Dyer. After completing her doctorate, she joined the faculty at Sam Houston State University in 2002. She moved to Lamar University in 2014.

Book

With Janet Beery, Sarah J. Greenwald, and Maura B. Mast, Jensen-Vallin is an editor of the book ''Women in Mathematics: Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America'' (Springer, 2017).

Awards and honors

Jensen-Vallin was one of the 2008 winners of the Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member. The Association for Women in Mathematics gave her their Service Award in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen-Vallin, Jacqueline Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American mathematicians University of Connecticut alumni University of Oregon alumni Sam Houston State University faculty Lamar University people 21st-century American women mathematicians