Fumiko Futamura received her MS and PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2007 and her BA from the University of Louisville in 2002. In her free time, she is an artist working primarily in charcoal, pen and ink, oils and crochet, but she dabbles in everything from photography to ceramics. She shares her passion for mathematics and art with her students in classes like Geometry and Explorations in Mathematics, empowering and engaging them through hands-on activities and active learning. She also shares this love through public lectures and workshops at venues such as NerdNite, Japan America Society of Greater Austin, the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, Art.Science.Gallery and the Thinkery. She is the author of a TED-Ed video, The Mathematics of Sidewalk Illusions, and is writing a textbook with co-authors Annalisa Crannell and Marc Frantz titled Perspective and Projective Geometry. 

“Mathematics is the most elusive of all the arts. It took 8 years of serious study to even begin to understand the medium and begin to work with it in a creative way. Math is art. I wouldn’t be a mathematician otherwise.”
- Fumiko Futamura

Fumiko Futamura’s research lies at the intersection of projective geometry and mathematical perspective. She has co-authored papers on mathematically analyzing Albrecht Dürer’s engravings, understanding the image of a square, finding distortion-free points and sets in photographs, and a new method of determining where to stand to correctly view a two-point perspective painting. She has also published papers in harmonic analysis and frame theory. 

• F. Futamura, A. Marr, Taking Mathematics Abroad: A How-To Guide, PRIMUS, accepted 2018.
• F. Futamura, R. Lehr,  A new perspective on finding the viewpoint, Mathematics Magazine, 90 no. 4 (2017) pp. 267-277.
• Student research with Robert Lehr, class of 2015
• Recipient for the 2018 MAA Carl B. Allendoerfer Award for expository excellence of papers published in Mathematics Magazine in 2017.
• A. Crannell, M. Frantz, F. Futamura, The Image of a Square, Amer. Math. Monthly, 124 no. 2, (2017) pp. 99-115.
• A. Crannell, M. Frantz, F. Futamura, The Cross ratio as a parameter for Dürer’s solid (Party game for a 500th anniversary) J. Math. Arts, 8 no. 3-4, (2014),  111–119.
  • On the shortlist of four papers considered for the 2016 JMA Outstanding Paper Award
• A. Crannell, M. Frantz, F. Futamura, Dürer: Disguise, Distance, Disagreements, and Diagonals! Math Horizons, 22 no. 2, (2014) 10-11. 
  • Reprinted in: The Best Writing on Mathematics 2015, Princeton University Press, 2015.
• R. Denman, F. Futamura, K.C. Richards, On sharp frame diagonalization, Linear Algebra Appl., 438 no. 5, (2013) 2210-2224.
• F. Futamura, Frame diagonalization of matrices, Linear Algebra Appl., 436 no. 9, (2012) 3201-3214. 
• F. Futamura,  Localizable operators and the construction of localized frames, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 137 (2009) 4187-4197. 
• F. Futamura, Symmetrically localized frames and the removal of subsets of positive density, J. Math. Anal. Appl., 326 no. 2, (2007) 122-1235. 
• F. Futamura, Banach framed, decay in the context of localization, Sampl. Theory Signal Image Process., 6 no. 2, (2007) 151-166.

Recent: 

• Jul 2018: Perspectives of a Mathematician Artist, Honors Summer Math Camp Colloquium for high school students, Texas State University
• Apr 2018: How to Mathematically Immerse Yourself in Art, University Lecture Series, Texas State University
• Apr 2018: When Artists Become Mathematicians, public lecture, Phi Beta Kappa (En)Lightning Talks Houston
• Feb 2018: Learning station on hyperbolic crochet coral reefs, Hot Science, Cool Talks, Environmental Science Institute, UT Austin
• July 2017: Fractals in Japanese Woodblock Prints, Academic Lecture Series, Japan America Society of Greater Austin
• Jan 2017: The Mathematics of Sidewalk Illusions, TED-Ed Animation and Lesson
• Dec 2016: Learning station on hyperbolic crochet: Fuzzy Math, Thinkery21 at the Thinkery, Austin, TX
• Feb 2016: Learning session: Mathematics of perspective drawing, Operation Math Girls Conference for high school students, Sam Houston State University, TX