Jessica Sklar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessica Katherine Sklar (born 1973)[1] is a mathematician interested in abstract algebra, recreational mathematics, mathematics and art, and mathematics and popular culture. She is a professor of mathematics at Pacific Lutheran University, and former head of the mathematics department at Pacific Lutheran.[2]
As a high school student, Sklar studied poetry at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She did her undergraduate studies at Swarthmore College, where her mother Elizabeth S. Sklar had earned a degree in English (later becoming an English professor at Wayne State University) and her father Lawrence Sklar had taught philosophy. Jessica completed a double major in English and mathematics in 1995.[2][3]
Next, Sklar moved to the University of Oregon for graduate study in mathematics, earning a master's degree in 1997 and completing her Ph.D. there in 2001.[4] Her dissertation, Binomial Rings and Algebras, was supervised by Frank Wylie Anderson.[5]
She has been a faculty member in the mathematics department at Pacific Lutheran since 2001.[2]
Combining her interests in mathematics and art she is one of 24 mathematicians and artists who make up the Mathemalchemy Team.[6][7]
Selected publications
- “‘Bok bok’: exploring the game of Chicken in film,” with Jennifer F. Nordstrom. In: Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Ed. Bharath Sriraman. Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2020.[8]
- “‘Elegance in design’: mathematics and the works of Ted Chiang.” In: Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Ed. Bharath Sriraman. Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2020.[8]
- “Disciple” (poem). Journal of Humanistic Mathematics 7(2) (July 2017), 418.
- First-Semester Abstract Algebra: A Structural Approach. Archived 2018-11-14 at the Wayback Machine GNU Free Documentation License, 2017.
- “A confused electrician uses Smith normal form,” with Tom Edgar. Mathematics Magazine 89(1) (2016), 3–13.
- Mathematics in Popular Culture: Essays on Appearances in Film, Literature, Games, Television and Other Media.[9] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2012. Editor, with Elizabeth S. Sklar.
- “The graph menagerie: abstract algebra and the Mad Veterinarian,” with G. Abrams. Mathematics Magazine 83(3) (2010), 168–179.
- “Dials and levers and glyphs, oh my! Linear algebra solutions to computer game puzzles.”Mathematics Magazine 79(5) (2006), 360–367.
- "Binomial rings.” Communications in Algebra 32(4) (2004), 1385–1399.
- “Binomial algebras.” Communications in Algebra 30(4) (2002), 1961–1978.
