Lathisms
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After growing up in Panamá and finishing her B.S. in mathematics at Emory University, Michelle Chu
completed her Ph.D. in 2018 at the University of Texas at Austin under the guidance of Alan Reid.
Following graduate school, Chu was an NSF postdoc at the University of California Santa Barbara and
the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was also a research member at MSRI during the Fall 2020 virtual
semester in ‘Random and Arithmetic Structures in Topology’ and at CRM during the Spring 2023 program
in ‘Geometric Group Theory’. Chu is starting her second year as an Assistant Professor in the School of
Mathematics at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where she is discovering her newfound affection
to the changing seasons and learning to love the Minnesota winters.
Broadly, Chu’s research interests are in geometric topology and its connections to areas including
geometric group theory, number theory, and representation theory. More specifically, her work explores
geometric, topological, and algebraic properties of hyperbolic manifolds and their fundamental groups.
One aspect of her research focuses on arithmetic hyperbolic manifolds, which are constructed as
quotients of hyperbolic space by subgroups of isometries commensurable with integer points in algebraic
groups.
Throughout her career, Chu has immensely benefited from the support and encouragement of both
mentors and peers. She fervently believes in supporting the next generations in their mathematical
journeys. Chu has been fortunate to be involved as an organizer or mentor in several programs including
the Distinguished Women in Math lecture series at UT Austin, the Texas Women in Math Symposium, the
Directed Reading Program, Roots of Unity, and Women in Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics. Most
recently, Chu mentored five undergraduate students in a research project during the Summer 2023 Twin
Cities REU in Algebra and Combinatorics.
“Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to highlight and celebrate the rich diversity within Latinx communities
and reflect on the complexity of identity, ethnicity, race, and culture. I take immense pride in my
multiracial Panamanian heritage and am honored to join the Lathisms family.”