News: PSD Spotlights

Pranav Gokhale was born and raised in suburban Maryland. Prior to coming to the University of Chicago, he worked as a product engineer at Quora. He is now in his second year of UChicago’s Computer Science PhD program. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at UChicago.

Jade Checlair was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to attending the University of Chicago, she studied physics at the University of Toronto and spent a summer in Tokyo researching exoplanets. She’s now in her third year at UChicago, pursuing a PhD in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences.

Alan Chang was born in Minneapolis, MN, and grew up in San Jose, CA. He received a BA in mathematics from Princeton and is now in his fifth year of the University of Chicago’s Mathematics PhD program. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at UChicago.

June Wu is from Shanghai, China. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she received her BA in mathematics and MS in scientific computing from the Courant Institute at New York University. She is in her first year of pursuing a PhD with the Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematics (CCAM). We interviewed her via email about her experiences at UChicago.

Petr Panov is from Moscow, Russia. He earned his BSc and MSc in biophysics from Moscow Institute of Technology. He is now a fourth-year student pursuing a PhD in statistics. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at the University of Chicago.

Adina Feinstein grew up in Syosset, New York. She received a BS in Astrophysics from Tufts University and is now a first-year student in the MS-PSD program with a concentration in astronomy & astrophysics. We interviewed her via email about her experiences at the University of Chicago.

As Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Director, Neli creates, leads and coordinates institutionalized equity, diversity and inclusion programs for all PSD constituents. She builds strategy, provides guidance and develops resources to support diversity and inclusion practices for staff, students, postdocs and faculty. We interviewed her about her past professional experiences and plans for the division.

Gabriel Vargas grew up in San José, Costa Rica. He received a Licenciatura (Bachelor’s plus professional degree) in microbiology and clinical chemistry and a Master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Costa Rica. He is now pursuing a PhD in geophysical sciences with a concentration on microbiology. We interviewed him about his experiences at the University of Chicago.

Margaret Nichols grew up in Minneapolis, MN. She received her BA in math with a minor in computer science from Oberlin College. She is now pursuing her PhD in mathematics with a focus on geometric topology and the study of 3-manifolds. We interviewed her about her experience at the University of Chicago.

Rupak Gupta grew up in Delhi, India. He received a bachelor's in engineering from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi University and master’s in financial mathematics at UChicago. We interviewed him about his experience at UChicago.

Becca Thompson grew up in Evanston, IL. She attended Amherst College and worked in healthcare technology for two years before starting at the University of Chicago. She’s now pursuing a PhD in chemistry. We interviewed her about her experience at the University of Chicago.

Bernard Dickens III is a Chicago native. He received a BS in computer science from Morehouse College and is now pursuing a PhD. We interviewed him about his experiences at the University of Chicago.

Lipi Gupta grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. She earned her undergraduate degree in physics from Cornell University and is now pursuing a PhD in physics. We interviewed her about her experience at the University of Chicago.

Justin Finkel grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He studied physics and mathematics as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis. He’s now pursuing a PhD in Computational and Applied Mathematics. We interviewed him about his experience at the University of Chicago.

Claire Zurkowski was born in Baltimore and grew up in Havre de Grace, Maryland. She received a BS from San Francisco State University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in geophysical sciences. We interviewed her about her experience at the University of Chicago.