Hala Nelson

Bio

Hala Nelson is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at James Madison University. She has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Prior to James Madison University, she was a postdoctoral assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Hala Nelson specializes in mathematical modeling and consults for emergency and infrastructure services in the public sector. She likes to translate complex ideas into simple and practical terms. To her, most fundamental concepts are painless and relatable, unless the person presenting them either does not understand them very well, is trying to show off, or is working with a very complicated model of nature, which is not what nature intended. Other facts: Hala Nelson grew up in Lebanon during its brutal civil war. She lost her hair at a very young age in a missile explosion. This event, and many that followed, shaped her interests in human behavior, the nature of intelligence, and AI. Her dad taught her math, at home and in French, until she graduated high school. Her favorite quote from her dad about math is, “It is the one clean science”.