Tanya Rivers | Source | Professor of Developmental Mathematics at Western New Mexico University

Western New Mexico University developmental math professor Tanya Rivers specializes in supporting students in developmental and introductory math courses, and her passion is breaking down stereotypes about math and access to education.

To empower math scholarship at the elementary level, Rivers concepted and implemented a Family Math Learning Night series sponsored through a Freeport-McMoRan grant and made possible with support from her colleagues at WNMU. She introduces girls to computer programming through Expanding Your Horizons and volunteers annually as an event supervisor for the regional Science Olympiad. The developmental math professor is also member of the Math and Science Advisory Council that advises state leaders on issues concerning math and computer science.

Driven by her conviction that all children deserve access to quality math learning experiences, Rivers wants to get more young people interested in computers in math for a variety of reasons and hooks inventive minds by engaging them with technology and tools like robotics ad 3-D printing.

Rivers is the 2021 winner of the Mentor category of the Air Force Research Laboratory Excellence in STEM Awards. Also known as a STEMY, the award honors the math professor’s robust contributions to math teaching and learning.