Chikako Mese is an American mathematician known for her work in differential geometry, geometric analysis and the theory of harmonic maps. She is a professor of mathematics at Johns Hopkins University.[1]
Chikako Mese | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Dayton (BA) Stanford University (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | differential geometry, geometric analysis |
Institutions | Connecticut College Johns Hopkins University |
Thesis | Minimal Surfaces and Conformal Mappings Into Singular Spaces (1996) |
Doctoral advisor | Richard Schoen |
Mese graduated from Elk Grove High School (Elk Grove Village, Illinois) in 1987.[2] As a softball player at Elk Grove, she broke the national record for the number of runs scored in a season, with 69 runs.[3][4] Although primarily a catcher, she played in seven different positions for her team, and also tied the state record for the most walks in a season, 35.[5][4]
She earned a bachelor's degree in 1991 from the honors program at the University of Dayton, majoring in mathematics,[6] and completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at Stanford University in 1996. Her dissertation, Minimal Surfaces and Conformal Mappings Into Singular Spaces, was supervised by Richard Schoen.[7]
Before joining the Johns Hopkins University faculty in 2004 as an associate professor,[8] she held assistant professorships at the University of Southern California and Connecticut College.[6] At Johns Hopkins, she became the first tenured female mathematician.[2] She was promoted to full professor in 2007, and chaired the mathematics department from 2008 to 2011.[8]
In 2007, Elk Grove High School recognized Mese as a distinguished alumna.[2] She was named a Simons Fellow by the Simons Foundation in 2017.[8] She was elected as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in the 2020 Class, for "contributions to the theory of harmonic maps and their applications, and for service to the mathematical community".[9]