She joined the Department of Mathematics following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Geology.

Anais Bardyn joined the Brin Mathematics Research Center (Brin MRC) in May 2023 following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Geology, saying she knew by that point that UMD was a great place to work.

Bardyn shared her experiences and insights managing and coordinating the activities that take place in the Brin MRC in an interview below, which has been edited for length and clarity.

What is your favorite thing about working in the Brin MRC?

Working in a research center! I enjoy supporting scientists interacting with each other and discussing their results by helping to organize activities such as workshops and summer schools.

Did you always think you’d work in academia?

Yes. I enjoyed teaching and doing my research during my Ph.D. in France. As a result, I always envisioned myself working in a similar environment. UMD was the first American university I visited and it had a great impact on me. It’s a beautiful campus with so many students; I feel lucky to be part of it.

What does your day-to-day look like in your job?

It varies a lot. At the Brin MRC, we organize on average a one-week workshop every two weeks. Prior to a workshop, I work on the overall planning: interacting with the organizers and the participants, sending invitation letters, booking the hotel, creating the poster and the schedule, placing catering orders, and much more. During and after a workshop, I coordinate catering and work to reimburse participants’ travel expenses. In addition to the workshops and summer schools, I manage the Brin MRC Distinguished Lectures and visitors to the Brin MRC throughout the year.

What do you like most about your job?

The variety of my responsibilities and the organization they require, the management of the Brin MRC, and the fact that the Brin MRC supports researchers from all over the world.

What is your favorite UMD memory?

Seeing students return to campus after the pandemic. I was able to come to UMD during the pandemic to do my research during my postdoc, and it was a very empty place without students.

What do you like to do outside work?

I enjoy spending time with my husband and daughter, doing yoga, cooking and working in our garden.

Henri Berestycki, Zbegniew Blocki, Qëndrim Gashi and Carlangelo Liverani joined the department in fall 2024.

The University of Maryland’s Department of Mathematics welcomed four visiting professors in fall 2024:

• Henri Berestycki
• Zbegniew Blocki
• Qëndrim Gashi
• Carlangelo Liverani

Berestycki is a professor at L'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and chair of the Mathematical Analysis and Modeling program in Paris. His research focuses on nonlinear partial differential equations and modeling in physics, biology, finance and social sciences. In November, he co-organized the “Disease Dynamics and Human Behavior” workshop at the Brin Mathematics Research Center.

Blocki is a professor in the Institute of Mathematics at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. From 2015 to 2023, he was director of the National Science Centre, a government agency that supports basic research in Poland. His main research areas are the complex analysis of several variables and partial differential equations.

Gashi is an associate professor of Mathematics at the University of Prishtina in Kosovo whose research focuses on representation theory, algebraic geometry, number theory and combinatorial aspects thereof. He previously served as Kosovo's Ambassador to France from 2016 to 2021, and in 2011 served as a foreign policy advisor to the president of Kosovo. He also founded the Kosovar Mathematical Society and served as its first president.  

Liverani is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy. His main research interests include dynamical systems, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. In September, he co-organized the “Macroscopic Behavior of Deterministic Systems” workshop at the Brin Mathematics Research Center. 

Eugenia Brin, a Russian immigrant and retired NASA scientist who, with her family of accomplished Terps, became an important benefactor of the University of Maryland, died on Dec. 3, 2024. She was 76 years old.

Eugenia and her husband, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Michael Brin, supported projects that reflected their personal journeys and professional passions, donating nearly $57 million to UMD programs in mathematics, computer science, and climate science, Russian studies and the performing arts and the Campus Pantry.

"The generosity of Eugenia Brin and her husband, Michael, has manifested itself in every corner of our campus, from scholarships to program funding to support for research," said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. "She was a beloved member of a storied family of Terps, and we mourn her passing."

The far-reaching impact of the couple, parents to Google co-founder Sergey Brin ’93 and Samuel Brin ’09, on campus spanned establishing 11 new endowed chairs and professorships, the Brin Mathematics Research Center and the Maya Brin Institute for New Performance, faculty residency and fellowship programs, and even a summer math camp for high schoolers.

"Eugenia and Michael Brin's philanthropy has created unprecedented opportunities for faculty members and students in mathematics and computer science at Maryland,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS). “The establishment of the Brin Mathematics Research Center and numerous named chairs and professorships have undoubtedly elevated the reputation of the University of Maryland, where Eugenia will forever be remembered and cherished."

Stephanie Shonekan, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, said the Brins’ gifts have made a tremendous impact on the arts and humanities at Maryland and particularly on the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies through their support of the Maya Brin Institute for New Performance.

“We are grateful for their vision and philanthropy that has enabled us to advance creative technologies in artistic performance and attract outstanding faculty and students. Our deep condolences to the entire family,” she said.

Eugenia was born on Aug. 19, 1948, in Moscow. Though she faced discrimination as a Jewish woman in the Soviet Union, she enrolled at Moscow State University’s School of Mechanics and Mathematics. After graduation, she began working in a research lab of the prestigious industrial school, the Soviet Oil and Gas Institute.

In 1978, Michael applied for an exit visa for his family. At the time, doing so was often legally—and sometimes physically—dangerous for Jews in the Soviet Union. Eugenia was forced to resign from her position.

“I lied to all of my coworkers that I was simply leaving my job because I got another job,” Brin told Moment magazine. “I made up—totally made up—the name of a place where I was planning to work.”

The following year, the Brins’ exit visa was granted, and Eugenia, Michael, his mother, Maya, and a young Sergey immigrated to Maryland. Eugenia embarked on a career as a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, working on issues related to climate and weather forecasting, while Michael became a professor of mathematics at UMD. (Maya, a former English teacher, also taught Russian at UMD for almost a decade.)

In 1998, Eugenia was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 50. She and Sergey share a mutation in their LRRK2 gene, the single greatest genetic contributor to Parkinson’s discovered to date. Eugenia joined the Patient Council of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and became a leading advocate for research on the disease. In 2008, the Brin family established the Eugenia Brin Professorship in Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Eugenia also served on the board of the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society, where she was the national chair for myStory, a project dedicated to documenting Jewish immigration to America.

The Brin family has been making gifts to UMD since 2005, starting with an endowed chair in the Department of Mathematics, where Michael worked for 31 years. They later endowed seven additional chairs and professorships in CMNS, including the Eugenia Brin Professorship that supports data assimilation research aimed at improving weather prediction and climate studies.

They also established the Michael Brin Prize in Dynamical Systems, the Brin Postdoctoral Fellowship program and the Michael Brin Graduate Student Endowed Fellowship program, all in mathematics, and the Brin Family Aerial Robotics Lab located in the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering that provides a flight testing area for drones.

In the College of Arts and Humanities, the couple established the Maya Brin Endowed Professorship in Dance and the Maya Brin Distinguished Lecturer in Russian and created the Maya Brin Residency Program in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures to bring leading cultural figures to campus for short-term stays.

In 2021, they gave $9 million to the university’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies to create the Maya Brin Institute for New Performance, in honor of her love of the performing arts. It has added courses, expanded research and funded new teaching positions, undergraduate scholarships, classroom and studio renovations, and instructional technology.

A separate $4.75 million gift that year established the Brin Mathematics Research Center, expanding and spotlighting UMD’s mathematics and statistics research excellence nationally and internationally. The center attracts hundreds of mathematicians to the university every year for workshops, summer schools and distinguished lectures.

The couple endowed the math center in March with a $27.2 million gift that also established two new endowed professorships in mathematics and launched the Brin Maryland Mathematics Camp. It was the fourth-largest outright gift to the university from an individual and the largest ever to the Department of Mathematics.

“The Department of Mathematics is forever indebted to Eugenia and Michael Brin for their generosity and continued support,” said UMD Mathematics Chair and Professor Doron Levy. “We will always cherish Eugenia’s friendship, her inspiring personality and the amazing life she led.”

Brin, who lived in Los Altos Hills, Calif., is survived by her husband of 53 years, Michael, her sons Sergey ’93 and Samuel ’09, and four grandchildren.