Ruth I. Michler Prize 2018-2019

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and Cornell University are pleased to announce that Julie Bergner, University of Virginia, will receive the 2018–2019 Ruth I. Michler Memorial Prize.

The Michler Prize grants a mid-career woman in academia a residential fellowship in the Cornell University mathematics department without teaching obligations. This pioneering venture was established through a very generous donation from the Michler family and the efforts of many people at AWM and Cornell.

Julie Bergner was selected to receive the Michler Prize because of her proposed project to connect some of her recent work with the research of Cornell faculty member Inna Zakharevich, including simultaneous developments by both women (and their respective coauthors) on algebraic K-theory constructions. Bergner earned her Master’s (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from the University of Notre Dame under the direction of William Dwyer.

Bergner has been at the University of Virginia since 2016, where she is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Prior to that, Bergner was an Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of California, Riverside from 2008-2016.

Bergner’s research has been in the areas of homotopy theory. Her proposed research will bring together several facets of her work: the theoretical framework of homotopical categories and generalizations, the realization of 2-Segal spaces as a form of algebraic K- theory, and looking at derived Hall algebras as algebraic homotopical categories.

About her upcoming semester at Cornell, Bergner says: “While my past research has focused on homotopical categories and algebraic applications, this research project will require me to gain a much deeper knowledge of algebraic K- theory and topological Hochschild homology. Being able to collaborate on these ideas with Inna Zakharevich, who is an expert in both these areas, would be an excellent opportunity to expand my understanding of these problems and ultimately to make progress on their solutions. I am particularly eager to learn about the closely related research she is doing with Jonathan Campbell, and I fully expect that the interplay between the two will be critical in solving these problems.”