Webpage of Catherine Eva Pfaff
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Hi!
I am an Institute for Advanced Study Member
(Princeton, NJ) September 2024 - July 2025
I'm an Assistant Professor at Queen's University
Office: Simonyi Hall RM. 026
Fax: (613) 533-2964
Email: catherine.pfaff "at" gmail.com
Welcome to my site!
My name is Catherine Pfaff. I'm an American from a small town (primarily established by my grandfather) in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
My love for mathematics sprung out of my college years at the
University of Chicago,
where my studies primarily focused on abstract algebra, geometry, and topology. I specifically grew from the Directed Reading Program at the University of Chicago, which I thus established a
duplicate
of at
Rutgers University and at Queen's University ( Queen's Directed Reading Program in Mathematics). I earned my PhD from
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
under the advisement of
Lee Mosher.
During these years my primary focus shifted into geometric group theory, with specific interest in the rich subjects of mapping class groups and outer automorphisms of free groups (the Out(F_r)). I have newer interests in topological data analysis and geometric sports analytics.
I spent three years living in Europe (Barcelona, Spain;
Marseille, France; and
Bielefeld, Germany).
My passion for research is heavily rivaled by my passion for teaching.
My students are one of the greatest joys in my life.
I am proud of Sana Arastehfar (Masters, co-supervised with Christian Muise, Queen's Computing) and
Troy Zeier (Masters, co-supervised with Mikhail Nediak, Smith School of Business) for their successful graduation.
I am currently co-supervising PhD students in geometric group theory and topological data analysis.
I have also supervised geometric soccer analytics undergraduate research assistants.
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