Suzanne Lenhart, a professor of mathematics and a passionate advocate for women and other underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, has been selected as a James R. Cox Professor.
The three-year award provides Lenhart with a stipend of $25,500 to support her research. She is the Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Mathematics.
“This award is an indication of the high regard in which Suzanne is held by her colleagues,” Provost Susan D. Martin said. “We are proud to have Suzanne at UT and we wish her continued success in her teaching, research, and service endeavors.”
Lenhart is an applied mathematician in the field of differential equations. Her research publications span several areas of biology including HIV, tuberculosis, bioreactors, bioeconomics, cardiac function, population dynamics, disease modeling, and resource management.
The award is named for Knoxville native James R. Cox, whose gifts to the university through his sister and nephew, Charlotte and Jim Musgraves, helped establish the professorships in 2002 for faculty in the arts, theater, biological and physical sciences, architecture, and forestry studies. Recipients are chosen by a committee for their excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.
Lenhart was a co-founder and is associate director of education and outreach for the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which has received $34 million in support from National Science Foundation grants. In 2014, Lenhart was a co-principal investigator on a $6 million National Institutes of Health-funded grant for the Program for Excellence and Equity in Research (PEER), an initiative designed to increase the number of scientists of color.
Lenhart tirelessly advocates for women and students from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in STEM fields.
She is a former president of the Association for Women in Mathematics.
Previous recipients of the Cox Professorship include Beauvais Lyons, professor in the School of Art; Tricia Stuth, associate professor of architecture; and Paul Armsworth, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
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CONTACT:
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)