Kira Hamman

Teaching Professor of Mathematics & Director of the Honors Program at Penn State Mont Alto

Kira Hamman teaches mathematics and directs the Honors program at the Mont Alto campus. She balances her mathematical research in set theory, which is of absolutely no public good whatsoever, with work on the intersection between mathematics and social justice issues and with an active interest in public scholarship. She has written on the balance between quantitative literacy and equity in STEM fields and on the need for academics to engage in public debate. She writes a column for her local paper that aims to bring quantitative information to bear on public problems. One of her favorite recent projects involves teaching other mathematicians to write quantitatively informed opinion pieces for mass media. She is delighted to be working with the Student Engagement Network as a faculty fellow on a project aimed at making student scholarship available to the public.