Marilyn Hawrys Simons (panelist) received a B.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from SUNY, Stony Brook. She has volunteered in the non-profit sector for the last thirty years. In 1994, she co-founded the Simons Foundation together with her husband, Jim Simons, and served as its President until June 2021.

The Simons Foundation funds research and educational programs in mathematics, physics and life sciences, in the United States and across the world. Both through the Simons Foundation and at a personal level, Marilyn Simons has supported programs promoting an increased diversity and improved equity in science and economics. In 2013, she was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy, for her extraordinary and pre-eminent role in philanthropy. Marilyn is involved in various education initiatives and serves as a board member for many prestigious scientific institutions, including the American National Museum of Mathematics.

Through the Simons Foundation, Marilyn Simons has played an essential role in supporting IHES’ ambition to develop greater financial independence. Over the course of two decades, the Simons Foundation has given more than $25 million to both specific projects, such as the building of the conference center that carries the names of Marilyn and Jim Simons, and to the Institute’s endowment, for example for the creation of the Simons Foundation Biology Fund at IHES. The Simons recently pledged an additional €25 million to support the institute over the next ten years.

For her personal and enduring dedication to supporting basic science, Marilyn Simons has importantly contributed to the advancement of fundamental research. In recognition of her contributions and achievements French Ambassador to the U.S. Philippe Etienne awarded Marilyn Simons the French Legion of Honor in 2021.

Emille Davie Lawrence (panelist) is Senior Director for the Black Achievement Success & Engagement initiative and Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of San Francisco. She earned her B.S. in mathematics from Spelman College and her Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Georgia. She has also been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an Assistant Professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research focuses on topological properties of spatial graphs. She has been recognized for her work in the mathematics community as the 2021 Association for Women in Mathematics Service Award winner and was also elected to the Board of Directors of the Mathematical Association of America as Officer-at-Large. She is also a recipient of the 2021 Karen EDGE Fellowship for mid-career mathematicians. 

Emille enjoys speaking about mathematics to people of all ages and has been a lecturer at the National Math Festival, as well as many other outlets. She believes strongly that mathematics should be accessible to everyone, and her commitment to access is evidenced through her work with various national and local organizations, such as the EDGE Program, the National Girls Collaborative Project, the National Association for Mathematicians, and the Association for Women in Mathematics. She is also co-editor of the book Living Proof: Stories of Struggle and Resilience on the Path to Becoming a Mathematician which won the Mathematical Association of America Euler Book Prize in 2022. Her non-professional life is filled with music and other performing arts and spending meaningful time with her husband and two children.

Dr. Tatiana Toro (panelist) is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington and, in August 2022, she began a five-year term as Director of the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath, formerly known as MSRI) in Berkeley, California. Her primary research interest lies in the interface of Partial Differential Equations, Harmonic Analysis and Geometric Measure Theory. Toro earned her PhD from Stanford University, and has held positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. Among her honors and awards, Toro is the recipient of the Sloan Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Simons Foundation Fellowship, and she is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales.

Toro has served on the boards of the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), and she currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS). In 2022, she was elected to the role of Vice President of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) for 2023-2026.

Prof. Vijay Mehrotra serves as a professor of Business Analytics at the University of San Francisco, where he has recently developed an innovative module for his MBA students that is focused on Customer Success Management (the first such academic program in the world). He also leads the Business Analytics concentration within USF's MBA program and teaches courses in Business Analytics, Predictive Modeling, and Data Mining.

Since 1992, he has been active in the world of analytics, technology, management, and innovation.  Prior to becoming a professor, he spent more than a decade working full-time in Silicon Valley as an analytics consultant, entrepreneur, and executive.  Since 2010, his column “Analyze This!” has been published in every edition of Analytics magazine. In addition to his teaching and research, he regularly advises and invests in early-stage technology start-ups and consults with companies large and small on their use of data and models. In addition, he regularly performs as a public storyteller at venues across the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Professor Mehrotra holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, a BA in Mathematics, Economics, and English from St. Olaf College, season tickets to the San Francisco Giants, and very few grudges. His personal motto is “Get to Know Me and Something Will Happen.”