Janet Heine Barnett is a professor of mathematics at

Colorado State University–Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Colorado State University, Colorado State University System and a Hispanic-serving institution, Hispanic-Serving Institut ...

, interested in

set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies Set (mathematics), sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory – as a branch of mathema ...

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

, the

history of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the History of mathematical notation, mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples ...

women in mathematics This is a timeline of women in mathematics. Timeline Classical Age * Before 350: Pandrosion, a Greeks, Greek mathematician known for an approximate solution to doubling the cube and a simplified exact solution to the construction of the geometr ...

, and

mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out Scholarly method, scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical know ...

Education and career

Barnett is originally from

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

. She did her undergraduate studies at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, entering as an engineering student but switching to a double major in mathematics and humanities. She graduated in 1981, served in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

teaching mathematics in

Bambari Bambari is a town in the Central African Republic, lying on the Ouaka River. It has a population of 41,356 (2003 census) and is the capital of Ouaka prefecture. Bambari is an important market town and home to Bambari Airport, and the Roma ...

in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

from 1982 to 1984, and in doing so discovered her love for teaching mathematics. She completed her doctorate in 1990, at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

. Her dissertation, ''Random Reals, Cohen Reals and Variants of Martin's Axioms'', concerned set theory; it was supervised by

Richard Laver Richard Joseph Laver (October 20, 1942 – September 19, 2012) was an American mathematician, working in set theory. Biography Laver received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 1969, under the supervision of Ralph McKenzie, wit ...

. In the same year she joined the CSU Pueblo faculty.

Recognition

In 2015, Barnett won the Burton W. Jones Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching 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 ...

. In 2017, she won one of the

Deborah and Franklin Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics The Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics are awards given by the Mathematical Association of America to recognize college or university teachers "who have been widely recognized as ...

, for excellence in teaching reaching beyond her own campus. The award recognized in particular her work in integrating the history of mathematics, and its original source documents, into the teaching of mathematics, and her mentorship of mathematics schoolteachers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Janet Heine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Pueblo, Colorado 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Colorado State University alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Colorado State University Pueblo faculty 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics