Nancy Ann Neudauer is an American mathematician specializing in matroid theory and known for her work in mathematical outreach in Africa and South America. She is a professor of mathematics at Pacific University,[1] a co-director of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics,[2] and a former governor of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Mathematical Association of America.[3]
Neudauer grew up in Milwaukee.[1] She was an undergraduate business student at the University of Wisconsin, where she graduated with a double major in actuarial science and in Wisconsin's program in risk management and insurance.[4][1] After originally planning to go from there to law school,[1] she stayed at Wisconsin for a master's degree and PhD in mathematics.[4] Her 1998 doctoral dissertation, The Transversal Presentations and Graphs of Bicircular Matroids, was supervised by Richard A. Brualdi.[5]
Neudauer has been funded by the Simons Foundation, and multiple times by the Fulbright Program, to promote mathematics in Africa and South America by traveling there to teach students graduate-level mathematics, with the goal of better preparing them for graduate study abroad.[1][6][7][8][9] Her work in Africa has also included helping to develop support networks for women in mathematics there.[10]
Neudauer was governor of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Mathematical Association of America from 2006 to 2009.[3] She is a co-director of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics.[2]
Neudauer has published over 15 research articles on subjects including matroids and lattice chains.[11]
In 2010 the Pacific Northwest Section gave Neudauer their annual Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.[12]
Neudauer is known for her outreach work across America and Africa, receiving multiple Fulbright awards for her work supporting the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences.[13] She featured in a short YouTube video on Lifelong Learning.[14]