SIAM is excited to welcome two new staff members that have joined our team over the past few months. Get to know:
Karen Bliss, Senior Manager of Education and Outreach
Dr. Karen Bliss comes to SIAM after her position as an associate professor of applied mathematics at Virginia Military Institute. However, she is not new to the organization, as she has been involved in SIAM’s MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge) since 2011 in regard to problem development and judging matters. Her career path was fairly non-traditional; after earning her master’s degree, she was active duty U.S. Navy for seven years. Her last position in the Navy was teaching math at the U.S. Naval Academy and reignited her passion to study the subject. Following that, Dr. Bliss received her Ph.D. in applied mathematics at North Carolina State University and held a postdoc position at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a joint appointment at the Army Research Labs in Aberdeen Proving Ground. She then taught for a few years at Quinnipiac University before landing at Virginia Military Institute.
As the Senior Manager of Education and Outreach, Karen is responsible for developing and managing new and existing SIAM programs and collaborations related to education, and broadening participation in the mathematical, computational, and data sciences. Currently, she oversees the SIAM-Simons Undergraduate Summer Research Program, will oversee M3 Challenge when the current director steps down, and seeks to expand SIAM’s program offerings.
Q: Why are you excited to be working at SIAM?
A: I am beyond thrilled that I am able to join SIAM in an outreach and education capacity. I am passionate about the M3 Challenge because I think it’s a great way to expose a large audience to how fun and relevant math modeling can be. I love that we get feedback from students about how it inspired them to pursue studies in STEM fields. Beyond that, I’m excited about the suite of programs SIAM has, serving high school through postdoc and beyond. I look forward to watching those programs flourish as we consider methods to complement our current offerings.
Q: What part of SIAM’s mission statement do you connect with?
A: SIAM’s commitment to “advancing the application of mathematics and computational science to engineering, industry, science, and society” resonates with me. Students often share how impactful M3 Challenge was because they get to see, perhaps for the first time, how math can actually be used to answer real-world questions. Advancement starts with a core belief that math is useful, and I strive to get that message out.
Q: Why do you think STEM is important?
A: I do some volunteer work with a local food bank. One day, we were packing boxes of pantry staples when another volunteer noted that I was particularly efficient and that there was an assembly line somewhere that was really missing out on a prime employee. I realized then that I try to optimize all sorts of things in my life. I think I bring a STEM-based perspective everywhere I go with questions like: How can I take the data I have and use it to find the best or most efficient way to get the job done? How can we all meet our needs simultaneously?
Q: What is one thing that most people do not know about you?
A: I have a math tattoo. I also have a developmentally disabled stepson. He doesn’t have the capacity to understand numbers, but he is an unparalleled joy in my life.
Q: Why are Programs important to SIAM?
A: SIAM is an organization for individuals who can use math for practical, industrial and scientific uses. We offer programs to support graduate students and post-docs, and we have career fairs to connect job seekers with industrial partners seeking talent. We now offer summer programming to reach undergraduates who are underrepresented in mathematical sciences, and the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge has been highly successful in introducing thousands of students each year to how math can be used in the real world. Programs offer participants access to the best parts of the broad applied math community.
Rosa Perez, Institutional Sales and Licensing Manager
Rosa comes to SIAM after a role at Benchmark Education managing agents and distributors internationally. She started her publishing career at McGraw-Hill working in special sales handling author, corporate, and government sales. Following that, she worked in various sales positions at Oxford University Press, Taylor and Francis Group, AIP Publishing, and AAAS, where she worked with consortia, sales agents, and libraries.
As the Institutional Sales and Licensing Manager, Rosa is responsible for maximizing global institutional revenue across SIAM journals and eBooks and maintaining excellent relationships with librarians and agents.
Q: Why are you excited to be working at SIAM?
A: It is exciting to be able to work for a mission-driven organization who contributes to the betterment of society and the education of future researchers.
Q: What part of SIAM’s mission statement do you connect with?
A: I connect with the collaboration and community aspect of SIAM’s mission and how integral the journals are in the application and advancement of scientific and technological research.
Q: Why do you think STEM is important?
A: STEM is important because it fosters creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, and it responds to societal changes, global challenges, and improvements.
Q: What is one thing that most people do not know about you?
A: During my senior year of high school, I worked at the New York State Psychiatric Institute after school and handled the article requests from researchers and graduate students. Since they were only available in print at the time, I ventured to the Health Sciences Library to sort through the many volumes of journals and Xerox them; that sparked my appreciation for libraries, and ultimately, publishing.
Q: Why are sales important to SIAM?
A: Sales play an essential role in building loyalty and trust between the customer and SIAM. It is one of the main arteries that facilitates the dissemination of knowledge to current and future researchers.