Congratulations!

2020 Faculty Mentoring Award Winner

Carolyn Otto

Dr. Otto is an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC). She earned her bachelor’s degree at UWEC and her MA and PhD at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Dr. Otto’s research specialties lie in low-dimensional topology, focusing knot and link theory. Since she started at UWEC, Dr. Otto has mentored over 50 students in 36 research projects. Many of her students have presented their work in oral and poster presentations all over the country. Dr. Otto was a co-principal investigator on a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation titled “PUR: Partnership for Undergraduate Research: Enhancing the Undergraduate Curriculum.” As part of this grant, Dr. Otto helped create a mathematics research methods course that introduces students to the world of research mathematics. Dr. Otto believes all students are extremely talented and it is her expectation and desire to provide them with the mentoring they need to harness that talent and succeed.