| Raegan J. Higgins | |
| Birth Date: | Baton Rouge, LA |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Allan Clemens Peterson and Lynn Erbe |
| Known For: | Work with the EDGE program |
Raegan J. Higgins is an American mathematician and co-director of the EDGE program for Women. She is also one of the co-founders of the website Mathematically Gifted & Black, which highlights the accomplishments of Black mathematicians.[1]
Higgins studies time scales and its application to mathematical biology.[2]
Higgins went to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana. She attended University of Nebraska-Lincoln for her graduate studies studying under the advisement of Lynn Erbe and Allan Clemens Peterson.[3] She graduated in 2008 and was one of the first two African-American women to earn a doctoral degree in Mathematics from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.[4]
Higgins, along with Ami Radunskaya, is co-director of the EDGE program which supports women who are pursuing graduate degrees and ultimately careers in the mathematical sciences. She participated in the EDGE program in 2002 as a graduate student. She was also a workshop facilitator from 2014 to 2017.[5] Professor Higgins became Co-Director of the program in 2017.[6]
In 2008, Higgins joined the faculty at Texas Tech University in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics.[7] She earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor, becoming the first African American to receive Tenure and Promotion in the Mathematics & Statistics Department at Texas Tech.
In 2020, Higgins received the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) service award.[8] She has won several National Science Foundation grants for various programs in mathematical education.[9] [10] [11] [12] She also earned the 2021 AWM Gweneth Humphreys Award.[13] She co-delivered an invited plenary address at the 2021 National Math Festival.[14]
Higgins' accomplishments earned her recognition by Mathematically Gifted & Black as a Black History Month 2018 Honoree.[15]