Lauren Bandklayder is a Cuban-American mathematician and educator committed to advancing equity in STEM. She is the Education and Outreach Coordinator at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where she develops programs that make fusion research accessible and engaging for students, educators, and the public. Her path to this role began in academia, where she earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Northwestern University with a focus on algebraic topology and held research positions at institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Stanford University, and the University of Münster. Over time, her research interests gave way to a deeper drive to address the systemic inequities she witnessed firsthand in scientific spaces. She left academia to pursue that mission directly, earning an M.Ed. in Teaching and Teacher Leadership from Harvard and teaching math at Fenway High School, a Title I school in Boston, where she led SEI-designated classes for English learners. Now at MIT, she draws on both her academic background and classroom experience to bridge the gap between advanced science and the communities it too often overlooks. In her free time, she trains in Muay Thai, where at least the rules of engagement are simpler than academia.
Ph.D. Mathematics, Northwestern University, 2018
M.Ed. Teaching and Teacher Leadership, Harvard University, 2023
B.A. Mathematics, New York University, 2011