In just his first year at Indiana University, Assistant Professor Dr. Felix Pabon-Rodriguez is already making a big difference.
Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez is the Founding member and Director of the Mid-American Math Alliance (MAMA). The Alliance is a regional organization that will support historically underrepresented and minority students from the Midwest to pursue graduate degrees in the mathematical and statistical sciences. IUSM has partnered with the Ohio State University and the University of Michigan for MAMA.
The Mid-American Math Alliance is part of the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences. Commonly known as the Math Alliance, the group is led by Dr. David Goldberg from Purdue University. It is a national community committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the mathematical and statistical sciences. For more information, please visit the link: https://mathalliance.org/.
Multiple regional Math Alliance groups hold 1–2-day conferences like the Field of Dreams conference. Attending students are matched with Faculty mentors who help them decide what to study in graduate school, help them prepare the application and choose a school that best fits their needs. Students also have the opportunity to attend educational sessions, panel discussions regarding careers, and network with Faculty and other students.
The inaugural conference for this regional group is being planned for a weekend in the Fall of 2025 in a location central to Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. In order for this to be a success, Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez will need partners. He has the following faculty partners:
Daniel Ramras, Indiana University Indianapolis, Mathematics
Michael Pennell, Ohio State University, Biostatistics
Thomas Kerler, Ohio State University, Mathematics
Laura Scott, University of Michigan, Statistics
Kartik Prasanna, University of Michigan, Mathematics
If the conference might be of interest to you or your students, please complete this survey https://forms.office.com/r/by9gSDfvmj. You will be welcome to join the Mid-American Math Alliance.
The goal of the Alliance is to get more minority students into Math and Science Careers. If you have university or industry colleagues who would like to partner with the Alliance, please contact Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez at fpabonr@iu.edu. Of course, the MAMA also needs sponsors. If you or your group would like to sponsor this effort, please reach out to Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez. Any amount is welcome. Connections to industry groups who might like to sponsor this effort are also welcome.
Dr. Felix Pabon-Rodriguez started in the Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science (BHDS) in July of 2023. He graduated with his doctorate from the University of Iowa in May of 2023. He earned his MS and his BS at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez chose Indiana University because of the unique research opportunities between the 2 schools, IUSM and FSPH. His research focus is Infectious Diseases. He will be teaching a class in that area in the Fall of 2024.
He recently completed the Indiana University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Certification Program, a 10-weeks training program with expert-led classes that helped participants become better leaders, managers, and allies for today’s workplace. It was provided by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. With this new accomplishment, Dr. Pabon-Rodriguez will be better prepared to support historically underrepresented and minority students, faculty, and staff.
