The Blackwell‐Tapia Prize
This prize is awarded every second year in honor of the legacy of David H. Blackwell and
Richard A. Tapia, two distinguished mathematical scientists who have been inspirations to more
than a generation of African American, Latino/Latina, and Native American students and
professionals in the mathematical sciences. It recognizes a mathematical scientist who has
contributed and continues to contribute significantly to research in his or her field of expertise,
and who has served as a role model for mathematical scientists and students from underrepresented
minority groups or contributed in other significant ways to addressing the problem
of the under‐representation of minorities in mathematics.
History
Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute Director Carlos-Castillo Chavez, a member of MSRI's Human Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC) from 1997-2000 and a faculty member at Cornell University at the time, broached the idea during an HRAC meeting of a conference honoring David Blackwell and Richard Tapia. He then implemented that vision by securing funding from Cornell for the first Blackwell-Tapia Conference, held at Cornell in 2000 and attended by both Blackwell and Tapia. MSRI Director David Eisenbud then suggested the establishment of the David Blackwell and Richard Tapia Award as a joint enterprise between Cornell and MSRI, to extend the honoring of these two eminent mathematical scientists to those who have followed in their footsteps. That award was first presented in 2002 at the second Blackwell-Tapia Conference, held at MSRI. Starting in 2004, the Blackwell‐Tapia Conference has been hosted by other North American mathematical sciences institutes every two years, including the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics in 2004, the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications in 2006, the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute in 2008, and the Mathematical Biosciences Institute in 2010. The 2012 conference and prize will be hosted by the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics. The National Blackwell‐Tapia Committee selects the prize recipient. Primary funding for the conference comes from the host institute, while funding for the prize itself continues to be provided by a generous contribution from Cornell University.
Previous Blackwell‐Tapia Awardees
- 2002 ‐ Arlie Petters (Duke University)
- 2004 – Rodrigo Banuelos (Purdue)
- 2006 ‐ William Massey (Princeton)
- 2008 ‐ Juan Meza (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory)
- 2010 - Trachette Jackson (University of Michigan)
Left to right: William Massey, Juan Meza, Arlie Petters, Rodrigo Banuelos
