A picture of me!

I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Rice University. My pronouns are he/him/his.

You can find me in my office in HBH 324B, or you can reach me via email at richardwong[at]rice.edu.

In addition to teaching, I like thinking about algebraic topology. Prior to coming to Rice, I was at postdoc in the algebraic topology group at UCLA.

I received my Ph.D. in 2021 from the University of Texas at Austin, where I was advised by Andrew Blumberg. Previously I was an undergraduate at Rutgers University, where I graduated in 2015 with highest honors in mathematics and a minor in cognitive science.


Fall 2024

This semester, I will be teaching Math 101 and Math 102.

I will also be coordinating Math 102; and I am helping organize the undergraduate math colloquium at Rice.

Spring 2024

This quarter, I will be teaching Math 115A (Linear Algebra).

UCLA Student Petition

I was on the job market in the 2023-2024 academic year, and a few of my students started a petition to try to keep me on at UCLA. This petition gained a lot of traction on Reddit, and ended up with 673 UCLA student signatures. An article was written about it on The Daily Bruin.

It meant a lot to me to see the outpouring of student support, as well as all of the comments left by my former students. If you contributed in any way, thank you!

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Teaching

Teaching

Teaching and communicating mathematics is an important part of my mathematical identity, and I value the impact that I have as an educator. It is for this reason that I am committed to inclusive and equitable teaching that affirms and empowers students.

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Research

Research

My research interests are in computations in (equivariant, stable) homotopy theory. Click here for a undergraduate-level overview of what that means. In particular, I apply the computational methods of homotopy theory to answer questions about the modular representation theory of finite groups.

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Outreach

I am committed to actively promoting and supporting equity, diversity, and inclusivity in mathematics, and I am engaged in efforts to break down the systemic barriers that exist due to race, gender, socio-economic background, or cultural identity.

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