George Mason University mathematics professor Rebecca Goldin has been awarded the first annual Ruth I. Michler Memorial Prize by the Association for Women in Mathematics and Cornell University. The Michler Prize grants a mid-career woman in academe a residential fellowship in the Cornell University mathematics department without teaching obligations. This pioneering venture was established through a very generous donation from the Michler family and the efforts of many people at AWM and Cornell. The high quality of proposals submitted this first year attests to the need for such opportunities.

Rebecca Goldin was cited for her past achievements and future promise. The award notes "her research investigates sympletic geometry — a field that arose from the study of geometric structures underlying classical and quantum physics, but has become of great importance in modern differential geometry. She is a leader in work centered on Hamiltonian group actions and the study of topology and geometry of symplectic quotients. Her work has been called "influential," "elegant," "precise," and has been funded by two separate NSF research grants. "

At Cornell, Goldin plans to collaborate with Tara Holm, Reyer Sjamaar, and Ed Swartz on questions involving equivariant cohomology, generalized Schubert Calculus, orbifold cohomology, K-theory, and even the relationship between the geometry of hypertoric varieties and oriented matroids. The Cornell mathematics department is planning a dedication in the fall of 2007 when Goldin will be in residence. Ruth Michler’s parents hope to attend. More on the Association of Women in Mathematics is available at http://www.awm-math.org/.