Math
CS and Math Alumni Return to SU to Give Talks
A number of alumni have recently returned to the Math/CS department to talk to current students about their careers and graduate school experiences.
Open gallery
Marisa Ortega (class of 2018), Alyssa Gilbert (class of 2021) and Anna Wicker (class of 2024) return to SU for an alumni panel
Over the past year, six alumni have recently returned to the Math/CS department to talk to current students about the valuable experiences from their time at SU that led to jobs and post-graduate work as computer programmers and Ph.D. students.
In April 2024, Daniela Beckelhymer (class of 2020) gave a virtual talk, Journey to becoming a computational mathematician at the SU 402 Talks. This departmental seminar is held on Tuesdays at 4:02pm in FJS 402 and features faculty and student research, talks on interesting topics, as well as informational sessions on special offered courses, careers in math and CS and other opportunities. Daniela recounted her life journey from her hometown of Laredo, Texas to her experiences at SU to becoming a Applied Mathematics Ph.D. candidate at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, specializing in dynamical systems, nonlinear modeling, and climate science.
Daniela was part of the original 2016 EQUIP cohort, a mathematics and psychology double major and recipient of the recipient of the Ralph Whitmore Award in Mathematics, awarded to our top senior in mathematics. As a student at SU, she did SCOPE (now called SURF) research in 2017 with Dr. Alison Marr resulting in a publication, “Choosing Your Own Adventure: An Analysis of Interactive Gamebooks Using Graph Theory” in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. She also participated in SCOPE research on ASMR with psychlogy professor Dr Carin Perilloux as well as an external Research Experience for Undergraduates at Dordt College on Mental Health in Ukraine, which included traveling to Ukraine. Since arriving at the University of Minnesota, she has received the DOVE Fellowship in 2020, the Ford Predoctoral Fellowship in 2022, and the Sylvia T. Bozeman Predoctoral Fellowship in 2023.
In September 2024, Marisa Ortega (class of 2018), Alyssa Gilbert (class of 2021) and Anna Wicker (class of 2024) had lunch with CS students to discuss their careers and give insight into which classes were relevant to their careers, the importance of getting internships and the interview process.
Marisa is an Associate Manager at Accenture Federal Services, an IT service management company supporting the US Federal Government. As an SU student, she was a computer science major but engaged in broader interests. She served as a congressional staff assistant for congressman Beto O’Rourke, interned at the Human Resources company ADP, was a lead SU Ambassador, President of the Coalition of Diversity and Social Justice and President of the CS Club.
Alyssa is currently a Software Engineer at Dell Technologies for their Vulnerability Strategy and Remediation Team. She was a mathematics major and computer science minor at Southwestern who upon graduation was accepted into Dell’s IT Development Program. She has remained at Dell ever since, quickly advancing to her current position.
Anna is a software engineer at the Home Depot. Earning degrees in both Computer Science and Music, as a student, she often invited the department to her astounding piano performances. She interned for two years at The Home Depot as a software engineer and was hired by the company after graduation. In her free time, she is a piano accompanist with Austin Saengerrunde Damenchor, an all female choir in Austin.
In January 2025, Lauren Gillespie (class of 2019) gave a virtual talk discussing the research she is doing for her dissertation and Fulbright scholarship that took her to Brazil. She is a Computer Science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, using citizen science biodiversity data and remote sensing imagery to detect patterns of plant biodiversity with machine learning. As a computer science and chemistry double major at Southwestern, she worked with Dr. Jacob Schrum to create artificial-intelligence agents for video games, an idea that mixes biology with computer science. This research resulted in a peer-reviewed conference publication, which she presented at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Continued research with Dr. Schrum designing interactive evolving art systems called AnimationBreeder and 3DAnimationBreeder led her to present their work at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) in Kyoto, Japan and coauthor a peer-reviewed paper, “Querying Across Time to Interactively Evolve Animations”. She remained in Japan to present a poster on research she had been conducting for an internship at the Michigan State University Digital Evolution Lab, titled “Changing Environments Drive the Separation of Genes and Increased Evolvability in NK-Inspired Landscapes”.
In April 2024, Daniela Beckelhymer (class of 2020) gave a virtual talk, Journey to becoming a computational mathematician at the SU 402 Talks. This departmental seminar is held on Tuesdays at 4:02pm in FJS 402 and features faculty and student research, talks on interesting topics, as well as informational sessions on special offered courses, careers in math and CS and other opportunities. Daniela recounted her life journey from her hometown of Laredo, Texas to her experiences at SU to becoming a Applied Mathematics Ph.D. candidate at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, specializing in dynamical systems, nonlinear modeling, and climate science.
Daniela was part of the original 2016 EQUIP cohort, a mathematics and psychology double major and recipient of the recipient of the Ralph Whitmore Award in Mathematics, awarded to our top senior in mathematics. As a student at SU, she did SCOPE (now called SURF) research in 2017 with Dr. Alison Marr resulting in a publication, “Choosing Your Own Adventure: An Analysis of Interactive Gamebooks Using Graph Theory” in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. She also participated in SCOPE research on ASMR with psychlogy professor Dr Carin Perilloux as well as an external Research Experience for Undergraduates at Dordt College on Mental Health in Ukraine, which included traveling to Ukraine. Since arriving at the University of Minnesota, she has received the DOVE Fellowship in 2020, the Ford Predoctoral Fellowship in 2022, and the Sylvia T. Bozeman Predoctoral Fellowship in 2023.
In September 2024, Marisa Ortega (class of 2018), Alyssa Gilbert (class of 2021) and Anna Wicker (class of 2024) had lunch with CS students to discuss their careers and give insight into which classes were relevant to their careers, the importance of getting internships and the interview process.
Marisa is an Associate Manager at Accenture Federal Services, an IT service management company supporting the US Federal Government. As an SU student, she was a computer science major but engaged in broader interests. She served as a congressional staff assistant for congressman Beto O’Rourke, interned at the Human Resources company ADP, was a lead SU Ambassador, President of the Coalition of Diversity and Social Justice and President of the CS Club.
Alyssa is currently a Software Engineer at Dell Technologies for their Vulnerability Strategy and Remediation Team. She was a mathematics major and computer science minor at Southwestern who upon graduation was accepted into Dell’s IT Development Program. She has remained at Dell ever since, quickly advancing to her current position.
Anna is a software engineer at the Home Depot. Earning degrees in both Computer Science and Music, as a student, she often invited the department to her astounding piano performances. She interned for two years at The Home Depot as a software engineer and was hired by the company after graduation. In her free time, she is a piano accompanist with Austin Saengerrunde Damenchor, an all female choir in Austin.
In January 2025, Lauren Gillespie (class of 2019) gave a virtual talk discussing the research she is doing for her dissertation and Fulbright scholarship that took her to Brazil. She is a Computer Science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, using citizen science biodiversity data and remote sensing imagery to detect patterns of plant biodiversity with machine learning. As a computer science and chemistry double major at Southwestern, she worked with Dr. Jacob Schrum to create artificial-intelligence agents for video games, an idea that mixes biology with computer science. This research resulted in a peer-reviewed conference publication, which she presented at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Continued research with Dr. Schrum designing interactive evolving art systems called AnimationBreeder and 3DAnimationBreeder led her to present their work at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) in Kyoto, Japan and coauthor a peer-reviewed paper, “Querying Across Time to Interactively Evolve Animations”. She remained in Japan to present a poster on research she had been conducting for an internship at the Michigan State University Digital Evolution Lab, titled “Changing Environments Drive the Separation of Genes and Increased Evolvability in NK-Inspired Landscapes”.
Finally, in February 2025, Alley Koenig (class of 2024) gave a talk on her experience in Northwestern University’s Causeway Post-Baccalaureate Program. She not only took extra mathematics courses to prepare her for a Ph.D. program, but also received assistance with applying to Ph.D. programs, including meetings to review statements, securing fee waivers, and finding programs that aligned with her interest in graph theory. She is currently waiting to hear back, but has thus far been accepted into one of the top universities on her list. Her talk inspired a current student to apply to post-baccalaureate programs this year.
As a student at Southwestern, Alley pursued a wide variety of interests. She is an avid crocheter and was part of the SU Fiber Arts Club, took theatre classes, decided to learn American Sign Language for her language requirement, and studied abroad with the SU London program. She was also a resident assistant in the dorms on campus. In the department, she worked as a teaching assistant for Modern Calculus I and did research with Dr. Alison Marr on Subtractive Edge Magic Labelings and Dr. Arjun Chandrasekhar on mathematically modeling the role of gravity in the root system architecture of wild tomato plants. She presented this work not only at our 402 Talks but also at the Texas Section MAA Meeting in San Marcos and the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. She was the recipient of top Junior and Senior Mathematics awards in our department, the Atkin Memorial Award and the Ralph Whitmore Award.