Clara Chan
Associate Teaching Professor in Mathematics
Combinatorics of polyhedral complexes, cryptology, comparative genomics.
I have enjoyed doing mathematical research in very disparate fields, ranging from combinatorics of polyhedral complexes as an itinerant mathematician, to cryptology at the Center for Communications Research in Princeton, to comparative genomics in insects as a part-time researcher and later-in-life biology student at MIT.
Prior to joining the faculty at Wellesley I taught mathematics at MIT, Virginia Tech, and Wesleyan University, and coached both of my childrens' middle school math teams, in Newton and Cambridge, MA. I enjoy teaching at all levels very much, but am happy to have settled back into teaching math at the college level after a long hiatus.
In my free time I enjoy playing piano duos, trios, quartets, and quintets, and sometimes performing. I also recruit musicians for a classical music concert series and have served on the local cultural council in Newton, MA.
Education
- B.A., Harvard University
- M.A., University of Chicago
- Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology