Mathematical Society elects its youngest president – 08/12/2023 – Science

After 54 years of its foundation, the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM) has the first person in the North of the country at its command. Scientist Jaqueline Godoy Mesquita assumes the presidency at the age of 37, also as the youngest in the position and with the objective of promoting mathematics education in the most backward regions.

Born in Boa Vista, Roraima is the third woman to assume the presidency of SMB throughout history. Before her, Keti Tenenblat (1989 to 1991) and Suely Druck (2001 to 2005) passed through the position.

“I was very happy with this possibility, precisely because of the representativeness. Very few women were at the head of the Brazilian Mathematical Society, the last one was 18 years ago, it’s been a long time”, says Mesquita.

“There is also this issue of never having had a representative from the North. This brings a very strong symbolism for people in the region in terms of representation and for the greater development of mathematics in the region.”

The scientist graduated in 2006 from the Federal University of Brasília, where she is currently a professor. She completed her doctorate and one of her post-doctorates at USP’s Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (ICMC), in São Carlos.

Mesquita considers herself a “fruit of quality public education”, since, in the process of her formation, she benefited from Capes scholarships, being able to complete her studies with graduations in Chile, the Czech Republic and Germany.

“All these opportunities were very important for me to improve my research and training, increasing my collaboration and my internationalization”, said the professor.

Before being elected president of SMB through voting by members, she occupied the vice-presidency of the body. She now replaces Professor Paolo Piccione with a mandate until July 2025.

To reach the leadership of SMB, Mesquita went through challenging paths, such as the prevailing prejudice in an area mostly formed by men and convincing her family, who expected her to follow medicine, her father’s career.

“My parents had the dream of having a doctor daughter. But I liked math so much that I didn’t see myself as a doctor. As a teenager, I spent hours solving math problems. So it was very difficult to say that I wanted to do math instead of medicine,” said the professor.

The impetus came through Aunt Cleide Bezerra, who had a background in mathematics. “She was very supportive in that regard and also helped me talk to my parents and try to get a little better acceptance.”

The parents ended up convinced, but with some resistance. They said she could do math, but she should take another course to “not starve” later.

With regard to the machismo faced in her career, the scientist says that it was something common since the first days in the classroom.

“The first shock was when I entered graduation and saw that most of the students were men and very few women. Out of 35 students, only 7 were women. And this scenario got worse as I advanced in my career and also in the high posts that I assumed,” said the UnB professor.

“She ends up facing different situations of machismo, which sound like a joke in the hallway. These are micro-violences that we face every day as a woman in this very masculine environment that is mathematics.”

The advancement in academic training in the area of ​​mathematical analysis, with emphasis on differential equations and functional differential equations with delay, provided the scientist with recognition inside and outside the country.

In March of this year, Mesquita received the “Science, She says! Award”, offered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy to outstanding young foreign scientists. In September, she will return to the European country to receive the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy, the latter for her contribution to scientific relations between Brazil and Italy.

For the professor, becoming the president of SBM has a positive impact on the search for representativeness and becomes an incentive platform for women and scientists in the northern region of the country.

“You end up imagining yourself in a place where you don’t see people like you. The fact that today there is a woman at the head of the Brazilian Mathematical Society means that other women can see that and also think about the possibility of them getting there. same thing we have with people from the North region.”

Among the new management’s plans is the “popularization” of mathematics. According to Mesquita, the SMB has 106 centers across the country. The initial idea is to expand this network and focus on teacher training.

“We are in a country that has inequalities, so we need to boost mathematics in regions that still need greater development. Fostering mathematics events and also teacher training, which I think is very important. It is through training that we will achieve reach the base and bring a quality education.”

There is a great discussion in the country regarding changes in secondary education. The Ministry of Education intends to submit a bill to Congress by September to change the reform of secondary education. One of the points would be to increase traditional content, such as Portuguese and mathematics.

“It is necessary to take advantage of the moment to also think about how to promote an improvement in the teaching of mathematics in basic education as a whole, which still leaves much to be desired. Our management will have a very active role in basic education in mathematics, so that we can improve Brazil’s indicators in this aspect. We want Brazil to become a reference in mathematics”, says Mesquita.