Carlos Castillo-Chavez meets President Obama to honor mentoring program
“Recognitions are the result of team work and policies that guarantee the sustainability of models of higher education where research is at the heart of the effort.” - Dr. Castillo-Chavez
President Barack Obama greets recipients of the 2011 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in the Oval Office on Dec. 12. Among those being recognized was Arizona State University Regents’ Professor Carlos Castillo-Chavez, fourth in line from left, for the work done by the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute. Photo by: Pete Souza/White House
Regents’ Professor Carlos Castillo-Chavez, a mathematical epidemiologist, was among a small group of mentors honored by President Obama in a White House ceremony in December, 2011 as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The Presidential Award, which comes with a grant of $25,000 to advance recipients’ mentoring efforts, is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Castillo-Chavez is the founding Director of the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute, which was recognized for the crucial role that it plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering – particularly those who belong to groups that are underrepresented in these fields. Dr. Castillo-Chavez is also a Distinguished
Sustainability Scientist in ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and a faculty member in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. “ASU’s vision encapsulated in ‘access, excellence and impact’ as well as in a model of ‘one university in many places’ has made it possible for the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute to change the landscape in the mathematical sciences,” said Dr. Castillo-Chavez. “Recognitions are the result of team work and policies that guarantee the sustainability of models of higher education where research is at the heart of the effort. MTBI and its model of learning-throughresearch has opened the doors of the possible to talented students, particularly from U.S. underrepresented minorities; students who have begun to take on positions of leadership.”
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