Lillian Pierce ’02
Before Lillian Pierce ’02 met Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace, she got two pieces of advice: “Don’t contradict the Queen and don’t ask personal questions.”
When Pierce, who was studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, introduced herself as a theoretical mathematician, the Queen responded, “Not many girls have the head for pure maths.’”
“I couldn’t hold myself back,” remembers Pierce three years later. “I said, ‘Well, actually, I think that most women are told that they can’t do math, and then they don’t.’”
Pierce has been challenging expectations and convention ever since she started playing violin professionally at the age of 11 and read just about a novel a day during an intense period of what would have been her sophomore year of high school. She was educated in a unique, very small school started by her family, because regular classes couldn’t satisfy her boundless curiosity.
At Princeton, Pierce was able to maintain the intellectual freedom she was accustomed to by taking classes all across the spectrum, from neuroscience and molecular biology to music, Latin, and math.
During her time at Oxford, she saw a great contrast in the British education system. “You choose your focus when you’re about 16 and you get locked into a major from the moment you enter a college,” she says. “That just made me appreciate how unique Princeton is. You get to taste everything.”
Pierce had loved math from a very young age, and Professor Elias Stein, Pierce’s mentor, inspired her to continue focusing her intense intellectual energy on pure mathematics in graduate school. After earning a Masters at Oxford, Pierce returned to Princeton to work toward a Ph.D. in number theory and analysis with Stein, a National Medal of Science winner, as her adviser.
The work is theoretical, with very few actual numbers; it mostly consists of symbols and formulas that the average person will never come across, much less understand. In a way, though, it’s not a huge departure from her other passion, the violin. “I think of myself as being a very abstract mathematician,” says Pierce, “even more like an artist than a scientist.”
Pierce also mentors young female mathematicians. Last fall she started an organization called Mentoring Möbius to create a support system for female mathematicians in all levels of undergraduate work. Pierce believes Princeton does well when it comes to welcoming women in the sciences and math, but it’s hard to undo a lifetime of lowered expectations.
“There’s a society-wide assumption that girls can’t do math, and that can eventually be demoralizing,” says Pierce, who was named valedictorian of the Class of 2002. “The fact is that every math student comes across problems they can’t solve. But if you already have the idea that because of your sex you can’t do math, when you come across a challenging problem you can’t solve immediately, you might get too discouraged.”
Pierce plans to be a math professor, exploring the mathematical world through research, and passing along a love of mathematics to coming generations.
When Pierce, who was studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, introduced herself as a theoretical mathematician, the Queen responded, “Not many girls have the head for pure maths.’”
“I couldn’t hold myself back,” remembers Pierce three years later. “I said, ‘Well, actually, I think that most women are told that they can’t do math, and then they don’t.’”
Pierce has been challenging expectations and convention ever since she started playing violin professionally at the age of 11 and read just about a novel a day during an intense period of what would have been her sophomore year of high school. She was educated in a unique, very small school started by her family, because regular classes couldn’t satisfy her boundless curiosity.
At Princeton, Pierce was able to maintain the intellectual freedom she was accustomed to by taking classes all across the spectrum, from neuroscience and molecular biology to music, Latin, and math.
During her time at Oxford, she saw a great contrast in the British education system. “You choose your focus when you’re about 16 and you get locked into a major from the moment you enter a college,” she says. “That just made me appreciate how unique Princeton is. You get to taste everything.”
Pierce had loved math from a very young age, and Professor Elias Stein, Pierce’s mentor, inspired her to continue focusing her intense intellectual energy on pure mathematics in graduate school. After earning a Masters at Oxford, Pierce returned to Princeton to work toward a Ph.D. in number theory and analysis with Stein, a National Medal of Science winner, as her adviser.
The work is theoretical, with very few actual numbers; it mostly consists of symbols and formulas that the average person will never come across, much less understand. In a way, though, it’s not a huge departure from her other passion, the violin. “I think of myself as being a very abstract mathematician,” says Pierce, “even more like an artist than a scientist.”
Pierce also mentors young female mathematicians. Last fall she started an organization called Mentoring Möbius to create a support system for female mathematicians in all levels of undergraduate work. Pierce believes Princeton does well when it comes to welcoming women in the sciences and math, but it’s hard to undo a lifetime of lowered expectations.
“There’s a society-wide assumption that girls can’t do math, and that can eventually be demoralizing,” says Pierce, who was named valedictorian of the Class of 2002. “The fact is that every math student comes across problems they can’t solve. But if you already have the idea that because of your sex you can’t do math, when you come across a challenging problem you can’t solve immediately, you might get too discouraged.”
Pierce plans to be a math professor, exploring the mathematical world through research, and passing along a love of mathematics to coming generations.