Tapia is a mathematician
and professor in the Department
of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice
University in Houston, Texas. He is internationally
known for his research in the computational and mathematical sciences
and is a national leader in education and outreach programs.
Tapia’s
current Rice positions are University Professor; Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering; and Director of the Center
for Excellence and Equity in Education.
Tapia
was born
in Los Angeles to parents who, separately, immigrated from Mexico
as young teenagers in search of educational opportunities for themselves
and for future generations. Tapia was the first in his family
to attend college. He received B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees
in mathematics from the University
of California-Los Angeles. In 1967 he joined the Department
of Mathematics at UCLA and then spent two years on the faculty at
the University of Wisconsin.
In 1970 he moved to Rice
University where he was promoted to associate professor
in 1972 and full professor in 1976. He chaired the department
from 1978-1983. He is currently an adjunct faculty member of Baylor
College of Medicine and the University
of Houston.
Tapia
has authored or co-authored two books and over 80 mathematical
research papers. He has delivered numerous invited
addresses at national and international mathematical conferences
and serves on several national
advisory boards.
Due to
Tapia’s efforts Rice has received national recognition for its educational
outreach programs and the Rice Computational and Applied Mathematics
Department has become a national leader in producing women and underrepresented
minority Ph.D. recipients in the mathematical sciences. Thirty-five
mathematics students have received, or are currently working on,
the Ph.D. degree under his direction or co-direction. Of these 35
students, 15 have been women and 8 have been underrepresented minorities.
Under
Tapia’s direction, Rice’s NSF-funded Alliances for Graduate Education
in the Professoriate (AGEP)
Program provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
in science, mathematics, and engineering to participate in university
activities and work for the summer under the guidance of researchers
at Rice. Over the years Tapia has impacted hundreds of teachers
through a summer program,
TeacherTECH.
Among
his many honors:
The Vannevar Bush award was given to Tapia by the National Science Board in May 2014. In 2011, President Obama named Tapia one of the recipients of the National Medal of Science. The Gary D. Keller Award was awarded to Tapia at Princeton University
in November 2005. In October 2005 Dr. Tapia was named University
Professor and awarded the Maxfield-Oshman Professorship in Engineering.
In April 2005 Richard Tapia was noted as one of 50 Most Important
Hispanics in Technology and Business by the Hispanic Engineer
and Information Technology Magazine. In July of 2004, Tapia
was awarded the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
(SIAM) Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession. In
May 2004, University of California Los Angeles Alumni Association
awarded him the UCLA Award in Community Service. Also in May
2004, he received the honorary degree Doctor of Science and
Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. In April 2004, Hispanic
Engineer & Information
Technology Magazine named Tapia “One
of the 50 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business.”
In January 2004 the American Mathematical Society honored Tapia
with a Distinguished Public Service Award in Phoenix Arizona.
In December 2003, The Colorado School of Mines awarded Professor
Tapia with an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree. The National
Atomic Museum Foundation of Hispanics in Science and Engineering
named Tapia Exhibit Honoree in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October
2003. In January 2002, Dr. Tapia was inducted into the Texas Science
Hall of Fame. The Texas Science Hall of Fame is a tribute to the “giants”
who shape the world through their innovative use of science.
In October 2001, Dr. Tapia was honored with the Reginald H. Jones
Distinguished Service Award by NACME, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland. His work at improving the representation of underrepresented groups is celebrated with “The Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing”. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE-Computer Society. It is the first
in a series of events designed to celebrate technical contributions
and career interests of diverse people in computing fields.
The symposium sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery
and IEEE-Computer Society, took place in Houston, Texas. The
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans
in Science (SACNAS) honored Tapia with the 2000 SACNAS Distinguished
Scientist Award at their annual national meeting in Atlanta,
Georgia on October 14, 2000. Tapia was selected for his ongoing
commitment to educational opportunities for women and minority
students and in honor of a lifetime of achievement in his field
and of dedication to the future of young scientists. In September,
Tapia received a 2000 Peace Award for Education from the Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of Houston. With unity of humanity
as a guiding principle, the Baha’is of Houston present
three awards “for education, for humanitarianism
and for peace” each year to individuals or organizations for their
work in serving the community and breaking down barriers of culture,
race, class and creed. The awards are presented in association
with the International Day of Peace, a day designated by the United
Nations
“to commemorating and strengthening the ideas of peace both within
and among all nations and peoples.$rdquo; In May of the same year, Cornell
University established a lecture series to honor Tapia and David
Blackwell, professor at the University of California-Berkeley.
The lecture series provides a forum for the research of African-American,
Latino, and American Indian scientists working in the fields
of mathematical and statistical sciences. In 1999, Dr. Tapia
was awarded the Giants in Science Award by the Quality Education
for Minorities (QEM) Network. He received the 1997 Lifetime Mentor
Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1997, he was inducted into the Hispanic Engineer National
Achievement Awards Conference Hall of Fame. President Clinton
appointed Dr. Tapia to the National Science Board (NSB), the
governing body of the National Science Foundation in 1996. He
also received the 1996 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science,
Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Later that year Tapia
was named the Hispanic Engineer of the Year by Hispanic Engineer
Magazine, the first academician to receive this honor. He was
awarded the inaugural A. Nico Habermann Award by the Computer
Research Association in 1994 for outstanding contribution in
aiding members of underrepresented groups within the computing
research community. In the same year he was selected Professor
of the Year by the Association of Hispanic School Administrators
of the Houston Independent School District. In 1992, Dr. Tapia
was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the first
native-born Hispanic to receive this honor. Students at Rice
University voted him the 1991 winner of the George R. Brown Award
for superior teaching. Dr. Tapia was given the College Level
Educator of the Year Award by Hispanic Engineer Magazine and
named one of the 20 most influential leaders in minority math
education by the National Research Council in 1990.
Tapia
was asked to served as chair of the National Research Council’s
Board on Higher Education and Workforce, co-chair of all educational
outreach and training activities for both the University of Illinois
Supercomputer Center (NCSA) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center,
and co-chair of the Research Board for Building Engineering and
Science Talent (BEST). He is also serves as a member of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas Board of Directors.
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