Rice University professor will discuss diversity

Richard Tapia, the Noah Hardiup Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University, will be the next speaker in the President’s Lecture Series on Achieving Diversity in Science, Math, and Engineering. His free public lecture, “Post–Affirmative Action Challenges to Diversity in Higher Education,” will take place Thursday, May 8, at 4 p.m. in Ramo Auditorium.

Internationally known for his research in the computational and mathematical sciences, Tapia is also a leading voice in the effort to increase educational opportunities for minorities and women in math, science, and engineering. The director of Rice’s Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, he has helped the university gain national recognition for its educational outreach and has influenced hundreds of teachers through the center’s Mathematical and Computational Sciences Awareness and GirlTECH programs.

Rice’s computational and applied mathematics department has also become a national leader in producing female and underrepresented minority PhD graduates. Of the 37 PhD students Tapia has directed or codirected, 16 have been women and 13 underrepresented minority students.

A Los Angeles native, Tapia earned his BA, MA, and PhD from UCLA, where he also served on the faculty, and taught at the University of Wisconsin before joining Rice in 1970. He served as department chair for five years and is also an adjunct faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston. The author or coauthor of two books and more than 80 papers, he has addressed numerous national and international mathematical conferences and serves on several national advisory boards. He was the first Mexican American to be named to the National Academy of Engineering and has also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, the Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and the Reginald H. Jones Distinguished Service Award from the National Action Council for Minority Engineers.
•