Chelsea Walton, professor of mathematics, has been awarded the fourth annual Claytor-Gilmer Fellowship from the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Walton’s research interests include noncommutative algebra and representation theory, and she is able to use the fellowship in any way that most effectively enables her research.
The fellowship aims to further excellence in mathematics research and to help generate wider and sustained participation by Black mathematicians. It is named for Wiliam Schieffelin Claytor and Gloria Ford Gilmer, the first African American man and woman, respectively, to publish a research article in a peer-reviewed mathematics journal. Walton was one of several mathematicians who guided the AMS in appropriately naming the fellowship.
“After all of these efforts, I am happy to see that the fellowship has been consistently awarded to fantastic mathematicians,” Walton told the AMS. “Whether my work is fantastic is up for debate, but I do know that I have had to do a highly abnormal amount of maneuvering to become successful — via my own standards — in our community. There is no room otherwise, and models, if existent, are sparse. I sincerely hope that less maneuvering will be required for Black mathematicians in the future.”