Ruth Michele Charney (born 1950) is an American mathematician known for her work in

geometric group theory Geometric group theory is an area in mathematics devoted to the study of finitely generated groups via exploring the connections between algebraic properties of such groups and topological and geometric properties of spaces on which these group ...

and

Artin group Artin may refer to: * Artin (name), a surname and given name, including a list of people with the name ** Artin, a variant of Harutyun Harutyun ( hy, Հարություն and in Western Armenian Յարութիւն) also spelled Haroutioun, Harut ...

s. Other areas of research include

K-theory In mathematics, K-theory is, roughly speaking, the study of a ring generated by vector bundles over a topological space or scheme. In algebraic topology, it is a cohomology theory known as topological K-theory. In algebra and algebraic geom ...

and

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariants that classify topological spaces up to homeomorphism, though usually most classif ...

. She holds the Theodore and Evelyn G. Berenson Chair in Mathematics at

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

. She was in the first group of mathematicians named Fellows of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings ...

. She was in the first group of mathematicians named Fellows of the

Association for Women in Mathematics The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) is a professional society whose mission is to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity for and the equal treatment o ...

. She served as president of the

during 2013–2015, and has been elected to serve as president of the

for the 2021–2023 term.

Life

Charney attended

, graduating in mathematics in 1972. She then attended

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

Dance Studio for a year, studying

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. She received her Ph.D. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

in 1977 under

Wu-Chung Hsiang Wu-Chung Hsiang (; born 12 June 1935 in Zhejiang) is a Chinese-American mathematician, specializing in topology. Hsiang served as chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University from 1982 to 1985 and was one of the most influent ...

. Her dissertation was title
Homological Stability for the General Linear Group of a Principal Ideal Domain

Work

Following her graduation from

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, Charney took a postdoctoral position at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, followed by an NSF postdoctoral appointment/assistant professor position at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. She worked for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

until 2003, when she returned to work at

. Charney served as president of the

during 2013–2015. She emphasized the importance of encouraging young women in mathematics through summer programs, mentorships, and parental involvement. She has served as an editor of the journal '' Algebraic and Geometric Topology'' from 2000 to 2007. In 2019 she was elected to serve as president of the

during 2021–2023.

Honors

*In 2013 Charney was named a Fellow of the

in the inaugural class. *In 2017 she was selected as a Fellow of the

in the inaugural class.

Selected publications

*Charney, Ruth; Davis, Michael W
''Finite K(π,1)s for Artin groups''.
Prospects in topology (Princeton, NJ, 1994), 110–124, Ann. of Math. Stud., 138, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995
MR1368655
* Charney, Rut
''Geodesic automation and growth functions for Artin groups of finite type''.
Math. Ann. 301 (1995), no. 2, 307–324
MR1314589
* Charney, Ruth ''Artin groups of finite type are biautomatic''. Math. Ann. 292 (1992), no. 4, 671–683
MR1157320
* Charney, Rut
''An introduction to right-angled Artin groups''.
Geom. Dedicata 125 (2007), 141–158
MR2322545

References

External links

* Ruth Charney'
Author Profile
on MathSciNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Charney, Ruth American women mathematicians Brandeis University alumni Brandeis University faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society American feminists Geometers Group theorists Topologists Living people 1950 births Fellows of the Association for Women in Mathematics Presidents of the American Mathematical Society