Countdown to the 2021 Friends of IHES Gala: Focus on Master of Ceremonies Gioia De Cari (Week-4)

The 2021 Friends of IHES Gala will take place on November 16, in only 4 weeks.

The master of ceremonies for this edition will be Gioia De Cari, an actress, singer and playwright, who defines herself as a “recovering mathematician”.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, she earned a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a young graduate student well along in her math Ph.D. program at M.I.T. and working as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard, Gioia De Cari decided to leave the field entirely, promising herself she would never speak about math again. She eventually forged a new path for herself in the arts, in which she has worked professionally for over 20 years.

Along the way, her experiences as a woman in the male-dominated world of mathematics and the never-ending controversies about women in STEM in the news led her to write Truth Values, a critically-acclaimed award-winning play, which had its genesis as a writing and performance exercise in the New York studio of the late legendary theater director Wynn Handman.

Truth Values has been embraced nationally as a conversation catalyst on diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), having been presented at over 50 theaters with more than 75 expert panel discussions on this topic. A companion educational program to the play, Truth Values Community, was sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Gioia De Cari’s personal reflection on her experience as a woman in mathematics, as well her performing skills, make her the perfect master of ceremonies for this year’s gala, dedicated to Women in Fundamental Research.

The evening will be an occasion to pay tribute to women in science and to raise funds to support IHES, and more particularly, initiatives that will strengthen the Institute’s inclusion policy.

To learn more about Gioia De Cari: www.gioiadecari.com.