- Joan Birman
Joan Birman (born 1927) is an American mathematician, specializing in
braid theory andknot theory . Her book "Braids, Links, and Mapping Class Groups" has become a standard introduction, with many of today's researchers having learned the subject through it. Birman is currently Research Professor Emerita atBarnard College ,Columbia University , where she has been since 1973.Education
Birman received her B.A. (1948) in mathematics from Barnard College and an M.A. (1950) from Columbia University. She received her Ph.D. in 1968 from the
Courant Institute (NYU) under the supervision ofWilhelm Magnus . Her dissertation was titled "Braid groups and their relationship to mapping class groups". [MathGenealogy |id=24360]Career
Birman's first position was at the Stevens Institute of Technology (1968-1973). She also was a visiting professor at
Princeton University during part of this period. In 1973, she joined the faculty at Barnard College.In 1987 she was selected to be aNoether Lecturer . She has also been aSloan Foundation Fellow and aGuggenheim Foundation Fellow .References
*Allyn Jackson and Lisa Traynor, " [http://www.ams.org/notices/200701/fea-birman.pdf Interview with Joan Birman] ", AMS Notices, January 2007, Volume 54, Number 1
External links
* [http://www.math.columbia.edu/~jb/ Homepage for Joan Birman]
* [http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/birman.htm "Joan Birman", Biographies of Women Mathematicians] ,Agnes Scott College
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