CURRICULUM VITAE - Karen Vogtmann

Professor of Mathematics
Cornell University

Address  
 

Department of Mathematics
503 Malott Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4201

(607) 255-6494
vogtmann@math.cornell.edu

Education  
 
  • B.A. University of California, Berkeley 1971
  • Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley 1977
Principal fields of interest  
 
  • Geometric group theory
  • Low-dimensional topology
  • Cohomology of groups
Employment history  

 

 

 

 
  • Cornell University
        Professor, 1/94 to present
        Associate Professor, 7/87 to 12/93
        Assistant Professor, 7/85 to 6/87
        Visiting Assistant Professor, 9/84 to 6/85
  • Columbia University, Assistant Professor, 7/79 to 6/86
  • Brandeis University, Visiting Assistant Professor, 9/78 to 12/78
  • University of Michigan, Visiting Assistant Professor, 9/77 to 6/78 and 1/79 to 6/79
Sabbatical and Research positions  

 

 

 

 

 
  • Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, 8/07 to 12/07
  • I.H.E.S., Bures-sur-Yvette, France 3/04
  • Professeur Invit´e, Marseilles, France, 3/00
  • Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, 1/95 to 7/95
  • I.H.E.S., Bures-sur-Yvette, France, 1/92-8/93
  • Chercheur, C.N.R.S., E.N.S. de Lyon, France, 9/92-12/92
  • Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley,1/89 to 6/89
  • University of Illinois at Chicago, 1/88 to 6/88
  • Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.9/80 to 8/81
Research grants  

 

 

 

 
  • National Science Foundation grants for research in mathematics 1978-79, 1983-present
  • National Science Foundation Visiting Professorship for Women grant, 1984-85
  • National Science Foundation Career Advancement Award, 1989
Ph.D. Students  

 

 
  • Thomas Brady (1988)
  • Martin Bridson (1991)
  • Debra Boutin (1998)
  • Craig Jensen (1998)
  • Lisa Orlandi-Korner (1998)
  • G. Christopher Hruska (2002)
  • F. Gerlits (2002)
  • Matt Horak (2003)
  • Brad Forrest (2008)
Professional service  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  • Board of Trustees, American Mathematical Society (2008-2013)
  • External review panel, University of Utah, (chair, 2007)
  • Editorial Board , Algebraic and Geometric Topology, (2006 - )
  • National Research Council Committee to evaluate the VIGRE program (2007-2008)
  • Scientific Advisory Committee of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (2006- )
  • National Academy of Sciences Delegation to the International Mathematicaal Union General Assembly (2006)
  • Vice President, American Mathematical Society, (2003-2006)
  • AMS Committee on Education (2003-2006)
  • Vietnam Education Foundation mathematics panel (June 2005)
  • AMS delegate to ICIAM board (May 2005)
  • Scientific Research Board of the American Institute of Mathematics (1998-2005)
  • ArXiv Advisory Board (2004- )
  • External Review panel, University of Texas at Austin, 2004
  • Executive Committee, American Mathematical Society (1999-2003)
  • AMS Committee on Meetings and Conferences (1997-2003), chairman (2000-2003)
  • Member-at-Large, Council of the AMS (1997-2000)
  • Selection committee, AWM postdoc workshop
  • Associate Editor, Research/Expository surveys, Bulletin of the A.M.S. (1998-2000)
  • Selection committee, NSF graduate fellowships in Mathematics, 1994, 1996-99 (chairman1999)
  • External Review panel, Rutgers University Newark, 1997
  • Selection committee, Gehman lectures, Seaway section of the MAA, 1997
  • AMS Fellowship Committee 1989-90 (chairman 1990)
  • AWM Noether Lecturer selection committee 1991-1993 (chairman 1993)
  • Reviewer, Math Reviews 1977-1990
  • Served on ten panels at the National Science Foundation
  • Referee for numerous professional journals
Conferences organized  

 

 

 

 

 

 
  • (with Cornell topologists) Topology Festival, Cornell University, 1986-present
  • (with M. Bestvina, J. McCammond and M. Sageev) Semester program in Geometric Group Theory, M.S.R.I., Berkeley, CA, Fall 2007
  • (with M. Bestvina, J. McCammond and M. Sageev) Introductory workshop in Geometric Group Theory, M.S.R.I., Berkeley, CA, August 27-31 2007
  • (with R. Charney and I. Chatterji) Connections for Women: Classics of Geometric Group Theory, M.S.R.I., Berkeley, CA August 23-24, 2007
  • (with R. Charney) Special session on Geometric Group Theory, Annual meeting of the AMS, New Orleans, LA, January 2007
  • (with M. Bridson and P. Kropholler) Topological and geometric methods in group theory, Oberwolfach, Germany, April 2006
  • (with A. Chang, R. Charney, A. Grassi, C-L Terng, and K. Uhlenbeck) The Geometry of Groups, Program for Women in Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, May 2005
  • (with S. Holmes and L. Billera) AIM workshop on Geometric models of biological phenomena, Palo Alto, CA, June 2003
  • (with G. Levitt) Special session at joint meeting of AMS and French Mathematical Society, Lyon, France, July 2001
  • (with H. Abels and P. Kropholler) Conference on Topological and Geometric Methods in Group Theory, Oberwolfach, Germany, January 2001
  • (with R. Alperin) A.M.S. Special Session on Geometric Methods in Combinatorial Group Theory, November 1989.
  • (with A. Borel and J. Harer) M.S.R.I. Workshop on Buildings and Arithmetic Groups, Berkeley, CA, May 1989
Publications  
  1. Homology Stability for On,n, Comm. Alg., 7 (1979), no.1., 9-38.
  2. Spherical Posets and homology stability for On,n, Topology 20 (1981), 119-132.
  3. A Stieffel complex for the orthogonal group of a field, Comment. Math. Helv. 57 (1982), no.1, 11-21.
  4. The integral homology of SL2 and PSL2 over Euclidean imaginary quadratic integers, (with J. Schwermer) Comment. Math. Helv. 58 (1983) no.4, 573-598.
  5. Rational homology of Bianchi groups, Math. Ann. 272 (1985), 399-419.
  6. Moduli of graphs and automorphisms of free groups, (with M. Culler) Inventionnes 84 (1986), 91-119.
  7. A generating function for the Euler characteristic of Out(Fn), (with J. Smillie) J. Pure and Appl. Algebra 44 (1987), 329-348.
  8. Automorphisms of graphs, p-subgroups of Out(Fn) and the Euler characteristic of Out(Fn), (with J. Smillie) J. Pure and Appl. Algebra 49 (1987), 187-200.
  9. Local structure of some Out(Fn)-complexes, Proc. Edinburgh Math Soc. 33 (1990), 367-379.
  10. The boundary of outer space in rank two, (with M. Culler) in Arboreal Group Theory (R. Alperin, ed) New York: Springer-Verlag (1991) 189-229.
  11. Automorphisms of SL2 of imaginary quadratic integers, (with J. Smillie) Proc. A.M.S.112 (1991) no. 3
  12. Equivariant Outer space and automorphisms of free-by-finite groups (with S. Krstic),Comment. Math. Helvetici 68 (1993) 216-262.
  13. Length functions and outer space (with J. Smillie), Michigan Math J. 39 (1992) 485-493.
  14. End invariants of the group of outer automorphisms of a free group, Topology 14 (1995) no. 3, 533-545.
  15. Isoperimetric inequalities for automorphism groups of free groups (with A. Hatcher), Pacific J. Math. 173 (1996), no. 2, 425-441.
  16. On the geometry of the group of automorphisms of a free group (with M. Bridson), Bull. London Math. Soc. 27 (1995), 544-552.
  17. A group-theoretic criterion for property FA (with M. Culler), Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 124 (1996), no. 3, 677-683
  18. Cerf theory for graphs (with A. Hatcher), J. London Math. Soc., 58, part 3 (1998), 633-655.
  19. The complex of free factors of a free group (with A. Hatcher), Quart. J. Math. Oxford Ser. (2) 49 (1998), no. 196, 459–468.
  20. Rational homology of Aut(Fn) (with A. Hatcher), Mathematical Research Letters 5 (1998), 759-780.
  21. An Equivariant Whitehead algorithm and conjugacy for roots of Dehn twists (with S. Krstic and M. Lustig), Proceedings of the Edinburgh Math Society 44 (2001), 117-141.
  22. A Whitehead algorithm for surface groups (with G. Levitt), Topology 39 (2000), no. 6, 1239–1251.
  23. The symmetries of Outer space (with M. R. Bridson), Duke Math Journal 106 (2001), 391–409.
  24. Automorphisms of automorphism groups of free groups (with M. R. Bridson), J. Algebra 229 (2000), no. 2, 785–792.
  25. Geometry of the space of phylogenetic trees (with L. Billera and S. Holmes), Advances in Applied Math 27 (2001), 733-767.
  26. Automorphisms of free groups and outer space, Proceedings of the Conference on Geometric and Combinatorial Group Theory, Part I (Haifa, 2000). Geom. Dedicata 94 (2002), 1–31.
  27. Homomorphisms from automorphism groups of free groups, (with Martin R. Bridson), Bull. London Math. Soc. 35 (2003), no. 6, 785–792.
  28. Infinitesimal operations on graph complexes, (with James Conant), Math. Ann. 327 (2003), 545–573.
  29. On a theorem of Kontsevich, (with Jim Conant), Algebr. Geom. Topol. 3 (2003) 1167-1224.
  30. Cut vertices in commutative graphs, (with James Conant and Ferenc Gerlits), Quart. J. Math 56(3) (2005), 321-336.
  31. Morita classes in the homology of automorphism groups of free groups, (with Jim Conant), Geom. Topol. 8 (2004), 1471-1499.
  32. Homology stability for outer automorphism groups of free groups, (with Allen Hatcher), Algebr. Geom. Topol. 4 (2004), 1253-1272.
  33. Erratum to: homology stability for outer automorphism groups of free groups, (with Allen Hatcher and Nathalie Wahl), Algebr. Geom. Topol. 20 (2006), 573-579.
  34. Automorphism groups of free groups, surface groups and free abelian groups, (with Martin Bridson), in Problems on Mapping Class Groups, edited by B.Farb, Proc. Symposia in Pure Mathemaics, AMS, Providence, RI, 2006, 301-316.
  35. The cohomology of automorphism groups of free groups, Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid 2006, EMS, Zurich, Switzerland, 1101-1119.
  36. Morita classes in the homology of Aut(F_n) vanish after one stabilization, (with James Conant), Groups, Geometry and Dynamics 2 (1) (2008) 121-138
  37. Automorphisms of two -dimensional right-angled Artin groups, (with John Crisp and Ruth Charney), Geometry & Topology 11 (2007) 2227-2264.
  38. Automorphism groups of right-angled Artin Groups, to appear in L'Enseignement Mathematiques, special edittion dedicated to Guido's book of conjectures.
  39. A presentation for Aut(F_n), (with Heather Armstrong and Bradley Forrest), to J. of Group Theory 11 (2008), 267-276.
  40. Automorphisms of higher-dimensional right-angled Artin groups (with Ruth Charney), to appear in Bull. London Math Soc.
  41. Actions of automorphism groups of free groups on spheres and acyclic manifolds (with Martin Bridson), submitted, available on arXiv
  42. Automorphisms of two-dimensional RAAGs and partially symmetric automorphisms of free groups (with K.-U. Bux and R. Charney), to appear in Groups, Geometry and Dynamics.
  43. What is Outer space?, to appear in Notices of the AMS.
Selected recent invited addresses  
 
  1. Course in geometric group theory (4 lectures), Program for Women in Mathematics, IAS, Princeton, NJ, May 2005
  2. Combinatorial and geometric group theory, in honor of A. Yu. Olshanskii, Nashville, TN. May 2006
  3. International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid, Spain, August 2006
  4. Groups of Diffeomorphisms 2006, Conference in honor of S. Morita's 60th birthday, Tokyo, Japan, September 2006
  5. AWM Noether Lecture, New Orleans, LA, January 2007
  6. Mini-course, Conference on Outer space, Luminy, France, February 2007
  7. Geometry and the Imagination, conference in honor of William P. Thurston's 60th birthday, Princeton, NJ, June 2007
  8. Alaoglu Lecture, Cal Tech, Pasadena, CA, May 2008
All invited lectures since 2001  
 
    2001
  1. Special Session on Geometric Group Theory, Annual AMS meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 2001
  2. Topology Seminar, Columbia University, February 2001
  3. Conference on non-positive curvature and analysis, Penn State University, State College, PA, March 2001
  4. Georgia Topology Conference, May 2001
  5. Graphs and Patterns in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, A conference to celebrate Dennis Sullivan’s 60th birthday, Stony Brook, NY June 2001
  6. Workshop on Moduli Spaces, Stanford, CA, August 2001
  7. Colloquium, Northwestern University, November 2001
  8. Colloquium, University of Chicago, November 2001
  9. Topology Seminar, Duke University, December 2001

    10. 2002
  10. Algebraic Geometry Seminar, Duke University, Durham, NC, December 2002
  11. Group Theory Seminar, Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY February 2002
  12. Topology Seminar, Binghamton University, April 2002
  13. Colloquium, Neuchatel, Switzerland, June 2002
  14. Minicourse on outer space, Neuchatel, Switzerland, June 2002
  15. Topology seminar, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2002
  16. AMS Special session in Geometric Group Theory, Boston, October 2002
  17. Topology seminar, Stonybrook, NY, November 2002
  18. Colloquium, Stonybrook, NY, November 2002

    19. 2003
  19. Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, February 2003
  20. Topology Seminar, Yale University, February 2003
  21. AMS special session on Rigidity in topology and dynamics, NewYork, NY April 2003.
  22. Topology Festival, Cornell, May 2003
  23. Durham Symposium, July 2003
  24. Stony Brook String Theory conference, August 2003
  25. Oberwolfach Topologie, September 2003
  26. Institut Henri Poincare, September 2003
  27. AMS special session, Binghamton, October 2003
  28. Albany Group Theory, October 2003
  29. Seminar, R.I.M.S., Kyoto, Japan, December 2003

    30. 2004
  30. Topology Seminar, Max Planck Institute, Bonn, Germany, March 2004
  31. AMS special session on Group Cohomology and related topics (in honor of William Browder’s 70th birthday), Lawrenceville, NJ, April 2004
  32. Colloquium, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, April 2004
  33. Workshop on Classifying Spaces for Families, Munster, Germany, June 2004
  34. AMS special session on Topological and geometric methods in group theory, Nashville, TN, October 2004
  35. CMS special session on Combinatorial and Geometric Group Theory, Montreal, Quebec, December 2004

    36. 2005
  36. Colloquium, University of Tennessee, January 2005
  37. Topology Seminar, Columbia University, February 2005
  38. Algebra Seminar, University of Glasgow, March 2005
  39. Colloquium, Brandeis University, March 2005
  40. Midwest Topology Seminar, University of Chicago, April 2005
  41. Course in geometric group theory (4 lectures), Program for Women in Mathematics, IAS, Princeton, NJ, May 2005
  42. Colloquium, University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam, June 2005
  43. Colloquium, VAST Institute of Mathematics, Hanoi, Vietnam, June 2005
  44. Barcelona Conference on Geometric Group Theory, Barcelona, Spain, June 2005
  45. Topology meeting, BIRS, Banff, Canada, August 2005
  46. Geometric and Probabilistic Methods in Group Theory and Dynamical Systems, Texas A&M, College Station, TX, October 2005
  47. Flavors of Groups meeting, BIRS, Banff, Canada, November 2005
  48. Wasatch Topology Conference, Park City, Utah, December 2005

    49. 2006
  49. Colloquium, Penn State University, March 2006
  50. University of Arkansas Spring Lecture Series, Fayetteville, AR, April 2006
  51. Combinatorial and geometric group theory, in honor of A. Yu. Olshanskii, Nashville, TN. May 2006
  52. Conference sur la theorie geometrique des groupes, Montreal, Canada, July 2006
  53. International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid, Spain, August 2006
  54. Groups in Geometry and Topology, Malaga, Spain, September 2006
  55. Groups of Diffeomorphisms 2006, Tokyo, Japan, September 2006
  56. Oberwolfach Topologie, Oberwolfach, Germany, September 2006
  57. ETH Zurich, November 2006

    58. 2007
  58. AWM Noether Lecture, New Orleans, LA, January 2007
  59. Conference on the Topology and Geometry of Moduli Spaces, Stanford, CA, January 2007
  60. Mini-course, Conference on Outer space, Luminy, France, February 2007
  61. Topology, Banff, Canada, February 2007
  62. Colloquium, University of Michigan, March 2007
  63. Topology/Geometry seminar, University of Chicago, May 2007
  64. Geometry and the Imagination, conference in honor of William P. Thurston's 60th birthday, Princeton, NJ, June 2007
  65. MSRI/Evans lecture, Berkeley, CA, September 2007
  66. Topology seminar, University of California, Berkeley, October 2007
  67. Topics in Geometric Group Theory, MSRI, Berkeley, CA November 2007
  68. UCSB Distinguished Lecturer (2 lectures), University of California at Santa Barbara, November 2007
  69. Winterschule (5 lectures), Goettingen, Germany, December 2007

    70. 2008
  70. Colloquium, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, January 2008
  71. Colloquium, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, February 2008
  72. Colloquium, University of Texas, Austin, TX, March 2008
  73. Alaoglu Lecture, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, May 2008
  74. Workshop on Discrete Groups and Geometric Structures, Kortrijk, Belgium, May 2008