Ryu, an associate professor of mathematics, is the inaugural recipient of the Mary Beth Ruskai Research Fund for Women, administered by the Sylvia Bozeman and Rhonda Hughes EDGE Foundation.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Hwayeon Ryu was recently selected as an inaugural recipient of a fellowship by the Sylvia Bozeman and Rhonda Hughes EDGE Foundation that advances the research careers of women in the mathematical sciences.
The foundation awarded Ryu the Mary Beth Ruskai Research Fund for Women. As a Mary Beth Ruskai Fellow, Ryu will collaborate with faculty at the University of Sydney in her ongoing, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded mathematical modeling research of the COVID-19 immune response. The $5000 fellowship grant will also assist Ryu in organizing a mathematical biology workshop for female and non-binary identifying mathematicians in Melbourne, Australia.
The EDGE Foundation is dedicated to furthering the education and developing the careers of women and those from underrepresented groups in the mathematical sciences. The estate of Mary Beth Ruskai — a renowned mathematical physicist who made breakthroughs in areas of quantum physics and advocated for women in STEM — endowed the award to promote research and advances by two women in the field each year.
“Hwayeon has a great passion for the development of a bridge curriculum and program between mathematics and biology, and strong commitment to increasing the access to higher education in STEM fields for women and historically underrepresented minorities,” the foundation said in announcing Ryu’s award.
Ryu’s area of expertise is in mathematical modeling and analysis of dynamical systems from other disciplines, such as systems biology, neuroscience and immunology. In 2022, she was the primary recipient of a $300,000 NSF grant to model the human immune response to COVID-19. At Elon, she has mentored interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate researchers in furthering that work. Those teams were accepted to present at the 2023 and 2024 National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
“I am so honored to be an inaugural recipient of the Mary Beth Ruskai Research Fund for Women, awarded by the EDGE Foundation,” Ryu said. “This will directly support my visit to the University of Sydney in Australia for research collaboration during my sabbatical year for 2025-26.”
As a primary organizer for a March 2026 collaborative workshop in mathematical biology at MATRIX, a residential research institute for the mathematical sciences near the University of Melbourne campus, Ryu will “support underrepresented genders, including female and non-binary identifying mathematicians, who have particularly had career interruptions or who wish to advance their career in mathematical biology through research collaboration and mentoring experience.”
Since joining Elon’s faculty in 2019, Ryu has mentored nearly 30 undergraduate students in their research projects where math and biology intersect. She is a co-organizer of the annual Integrating Research in Science (IRIS) conference for interdisciplinary undergraduate STEM research, coordinated with faculty at Wake Forest University. She is also the faculty advisor for a student committee planning an Elon chapter of Association for Women in Mathematics.
Earlier this year, Ryu was recognized with the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award for a Beginning College Mathematics Faculty Member by the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America.
Founded in 1998, the EDGE Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to increase gender and racial diversity and equity in the mathematics community. Recognizing the centrality of mathematics in producing an innovative and effective U.S. scientific workforce, the EDGE Foundation promotes mathematical expertise especially in women graduate students and in professional mathematicians from underrepresented groups.