Biography

Professor Courtney Gibbons joined the faculty at Hamilton College in July, 2013 and is currently an associate professor of mathematics. She studies commutative and homological algebra, and her primary research interest is the study of infinite free resolutions (often through the lens of Boij-Soderberg theory). Gibbons also has a secondary interest in algebraic statistics (particularly maximum likelihood degree of toric varieties arising from statistical models). Since coming to Hamilton College, Professor Gibbons has supervised several commutative algebra undergraduate research projects at Hamilton, the Willamette Valley Mathematics Consortium REU, and the COURAGE (virtual) REU. In 2020, she served as Chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee of the Association for Women in Mathematics.

Daughter of a jazz musician and public school teacher, Professor Gibbons grew up near New Haven, CT; she attended public schools in West Haven, Woodbridge, and Bethany, CT and earned her diploma from Amity High School in 2000. In 2006, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with her B.A. in mathematics with disctinction from the Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Subsequently, she worked for CC’s Math and Computer Science Department for a year after graduation as a paraprofessional. In 2009 and 2013 respectively, she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

In addition to being a multiply-certified math nerd and a reformed college dropout, Professor Gibbons likes to rock climb, argue about notation, and snuggle with cats.