Ludmil Katzarkov, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
Email: l.katzarkov@miami.edu
The Executive Director of IMSA is responsible for overseeing the institute's scientific activities, including serving as a co-principal investigator on grants, managing staff, and postdoctoral researchers, managing the institute's finances, and overseeing the institute's website and public relations. The Executive Director will work closely with the Dean of CAS, the Provost of the University of Miami, and the Overseeing Committee, including the chair of the Mathematics Department, in order to further the goals of IMSA. Additionally, the Executive Director will be responsible for reporting to agencies and foundations and assisting with fundraising efforts.
Leads the efforts of IMSA, coordinates scientific activities, coordinates the connection with the Simons Foundation, leads the efforts for renewal of Simons Foundation support and other fundraising efforts, manages IMSA staff and visitors, and works on increasing the visibility of IMSA and non-American connections. The Executive Director and the Mathematics Department Chairman will work closely with the Office of Development and Alumni Relations on fundraising for IMSA. The IMSA Executive Director reports jointly with the Chairman of the Mathematics Department to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Executive Director reports to the Scientific Advisory Committee (a monthly report) and the UM administration.
Two new positions reflect the essentially global nature of IMSA, reporting to the Executive Director.
Ernesto Lupercio, Ph.D.
Senior Executive Liaison for Global Outreach of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
Leads the connection with South America and globally, building IMSAC and reporting to IMSAC, helping with the organization of MCA and fundraising activities, and helps with the website of IMSA.
Department of Mathematics
Cinvestav Researcher 3-B
Institute for Geometry and Physics Miami-Cinvestav-Campinas
Ernesto Lupercio is internationally known for his contributions to algebraic topology, geometry and mathematical physics. He was awarded the ICTP Ramanujan Prize and the TWAS Rolac Young Scholar Prize in 2009. He is currently Researcher at CINVESTAV in Mexico City.
Mina Teicher, Ph.D.
Senior Executive Liaison for Outreach
Mina Teicher is Professor of Mathematics and Neuroscience, with an international reputation in algebraic geometry, computer vision, cryptography, cyber security, computational neuroscience, complex systems and mathematical education. She earned her Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees from Tel Aviv University. Her dissertation, Birational Transformation Between 4-folds, was supervised by Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro. She was a postdoctoral fellow and a repeated member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. She has been the Director of the Emmy Noether Research Institute for Mathematics at Bar-Ilan University.
She gave lectures and keynotes in many prestigious platforms and universities worldwide including Columbia, Yale, Chicago, Miami, NYU, Pisa, MPI-Bonn, MPI-Leiptzig, Shanghai, Canberra, Buenos Aires, Quito, Wits, Pretoria, Hong Kong, Moscow, Sofia and more. She was the inaugural Emmy Noether Visiting Professor at the University of Göttingen.
Teicher was the the Vice President for Research and Development of Bar-Ilan University. As Vice-President for Research, she was in charge of commercialization of patents and credited for establishing numerous spinoff companies. She raised the funds and established the biggest Brain Research Center in Israel. She served as Chief Scientist of the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology. She was the Chair of the Board of Governors of the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, and a co-chair of FETAG of the European Commission. She has served in many additional capacities including as the Chair of the Israel National Committee for International R&D, member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Study of Gottingen University in Germany and of the Brain Center of the Abu Dhabi University in the UAE and as an Israeli delegate to the International Mathematical Union. Currently, she is a member of the National Council for R&D of Israel government, Vice President (and Founding member) of the UNESCO Digital Campus for Complex Systems,member of the Board of the American Friends of the BSF, member of the Advisory Board of the Research Institute of Okinawa University, member of the Advisory Board of the Center of the Mathematical Sciences of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Miami Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas where she is leading the initiative "Advancing Women in Mathematics Across the Americas" (WIMSA).
Bernardo Uribe, Ph.D.
Associate Executive Liaison for Global Outreach of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
Directs the connection with South America and serves as a leading ambassador to IMSA, helping with IMSAC, helping with the organization of MCA, and fundraising activities
Mathematics and Statistics Department
Universidad del Norte
Barranquilla, Colombia
Bernardo Uribe has been a professor of the Mathematics and Statistics Department of the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia since 2014. His main field of expertise is algebraic topology and his main focus has been understanding equivariant properties of spaces. He is recipient of the TWAS prize for young Colombian researchers in mathematics in 2012 and was elected to the Colombian Academy of Sciences in 2015. He was an invited speaker in the Topology Session of the 2018 ICM and served as vice president (2015-2017) and President (2017-2019) of the Colombian Mathematical Society.
Gabriela Olmedo, Ph.D.
Senior Executive Liaison for Outreach for the Institute of Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
The Committee consists of internationally acclaimed mathematical scientists. It serves to review and approve scientific programs at the Institute. It currently has 11 members and can be expanded to 15. It should meet at least every three months, with subcommittees meeting as needed.
Director
Cinvestav Unidad Irapuato
Mexico
Gabriela Olmedo-Alvarez is the director of Cinvestav Unidad Irapuato, a high-level research institute in Mexico. She is also PI of the Laboratory for Molecular Biology and Microbial Ecology in the Department of Genetic Engineering. She is the leader of the Taller Ciencia Viva, a group that organizes scientific workshops, with the participation of top scientists, to inspire young people interested in pursuing scientific careers (www.micienciaviva.com). She is the current ambassador of Mexico to the American Association for Microbiology, seeking to spread knowledge on current microbiology research.
Phillip Griffiths, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Committee Chair of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
The Committee consists of internationally acclaimed mathematical scientists. It serves to review and approve scientific programs at the Institute. It currently has 11 members and can be expanded to 15. It should meet at least every three months, with subcommittees meeting as needed.
Director Emeritus
Institute for Advanced Study
Arts and Sciences Distinguished Scholar in Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
University of Miami
Phillip Griffiths is one of the most influential geometers of the past half century who has had a singular impact on mathematics and science at large through his service in numerous capacities. Among them, he was Provost at Duke from 1983 to 1991, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study from 1991 to 2003, Secretary of the International Mathematical Union from 1999 to 2006, and member of the National Science Board from 1991 to 1996. He was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1979. He is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at IAS and Arts and Sciences Distinguished Scholar at the University of Miami.
Oscar Garcia-Prada, Ph.D.
Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)
Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT)
Oscar García-Prada is a CSIC Research Professor at Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas–ICMAT. He obtained a D.Phil. (doctorate) in Mathematics at the University of Oxford in 1991, and had postdoctoral appointments at Institut des Hautes Études Scientific (Paris), University of California at Berkeley, and University of Paris-Sud, before holding positions at University Autónoma of Madrid and École Polytéchnique (Paris). In 2002 he joined the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Robert Stephen Cantrell, Ph.D.
Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Senior Chief Liaison Officer and Founding Director of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas
The Senior Chief Liaison Officer serves as the main point of contact between IMSA and the University's fundraising efforts. In this role, the Senior Chief Liaison Officer advises on policy and relations with the Mathematics department and CAS, and acts as a co-principal investigator on grants. The Senior Chief Liaison Officer will consult, advise, inform, and work closely with the Executive Director and the rest of the IMSA staff to ensure the smooth operation of the institute.
IMSA is constituted under the Department of Mathematics. Once formed, the Chair will belong to the Executive Committee, the oversight Board, and the Executive Director of IMSA, continuing to lead the connection with the University of Miami, overseeing administrative operations and everyday activities. He will serve as the primary organizer of MCA 2025 and, with the Executive Director of IMSA, will work closely with the Office of Development and Alumni Relations on fundraising for IMSA. He also strengthens the involvement of the UM Math department in the IMSA Activities.
