Treena Sircar Basu

My path to becoming a mathematician and educator has taken me across continents, cultures, and climates. Today, I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at Occidental College (Oxy), where I joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2014 and earned tenure in 2020. Along the way, I've learned that a career is shaped as much by the places and people we encounter as by the positions we hold.

Before joining Oxy, I spent time as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Ithaca College in Upstate New York. While the transition from the warmer climate of the University of South Carolina (USC) to Ithaca's famously snowy winters took some getting used to, it was also an exciting period of growth. I had recently completed my Ph.D. in Applied and Computational Mathematics at the University of USC, and the opportunity to begin my faculty career in a new academic environment broadened both my teaching and research perspectives. My next stop at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, continued that journey and further enriched my experiences as an educator.

Teaching, however, has been at the heart of my professional life long before I became a faculty member. As a graduate teaching assistant at both USC and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), where I earned my M.S. in Mathematical Science, I discovered the joy of helping students build confidence in mathematics. Those early experiences, along with serving as a summer lecturer in 2005 and 2006, shaped my philosophy that effective teaching is less about delivering formulas and more about inspiring curiosity and empowering students to solve problems.

My journey into mathematics has been equally international. My upbringing spans three countries. I was born in the United Kingdom, spent my early childhood in New Jersey, attending Lakeview Elementary School and Valleyview Middle School in Denville, and then moved to India, where I completed high school. I graduated with honors in Mathematics from a women's liberal arts college affiliated with the University of Calcutta before earning an M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics, specializing in Operations Research, from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST). Experiencing different educational systems and cultures has profoundly influenced how I approach teaching, mentoring, and collaborating with students from diverse backgrounds.

Looking back, my journey has never followed a straight line. Each move, each institution, and each classroom has contributed to the educator and mathematician I am today, reinforcing my belief that mathematics is not only a universal language but also a powerful way to connect with people across cultures and experiences.