Dr. Luis A. Leyva is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education in the Peabody College of Education & Human Development at Vanderbilt University. Leyva uses intersectionality, a theoretical perspective and methodological approach from Black feminist thought, to examine how members of historically marginalized groups, including women, students of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, construct their identities while navigating institutional and interactional contexts of mathematics education as aspiring majors in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). He presently serves as the Principal Investigator for a three-year grant project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education entitled Challenging, Operationalizing, and Understanding Racialized and Gendered Events (COURAGE) in Undergraduate Mathematics. Leyva is a Senior Research Fellow in the Women of Color in Computing Research Collaborative sponsored by Arizona State University’s Center for Gender Equity in Science & Technology and the Kapor Center. Most recently, he was awarded a research grant at Vanderbilt University for a project that examines the STEM educational experiences of undergraduate LGBTQ+ students of color. His work has been published in the Harvard Educational Review, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, and The Journal of Mathematical Behavior. Leyva’s research was distinguished with a Dissertation Fellowship from the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation in 2015 and, more recently, the 2018 Early Career Publication Award from the Research in Mathematics Education special interest group of the American Educational Research Association.
Nikki Lanier
When asked why she has focused so much of her professional life onadvancing racial equity, Nikki Lanier will tell you it was anassignment passed to
