Students Remember Professor Tanya Leise

Julia Gentin ’26 Senior Staff Writer

Tanya Leise, Brian E. Boyle professor in mathematics and computer science and the first woman mathematician tenured at the college, died on Jan. 18 after persevering through a cancer diagnosis.

Leise began teaching at the college in 2004. Her focus on applied math, as opposed to the theoretical perspective many Amherst math classes center on, revolutionized the department. And her research transformed the field at large.

Having invested herself deeply in the college, Leise’s death has had a heartbreaking resonance across campus. For their part, students loved Leise for her patient, accommodating teaching style, and the

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Liz Agosto, Head of Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Steps Down

Liam Archacki ’24 Editor-in-Chief

Liz Agosto, chief student affairs officer and dean of students, officially stepped down from her posts on Tuesday, Jan. 31. She made the decision in order to allow herself greater flexibility to support and care for her family, according to a Jan. 12 email from President Michael Elliott announcing the change.

contemporary relevance of her classes.

Cassandra Jin ’24, who researched circadian rhythms with Leise in the summer of 2021, said that Leise was “extremely patient.”

“She was accommodating and really smart,” Jin said. “She made us feel like she needed us even when she probably didn’t. She had a very sweet, warm personality”

The content of her courses like “Voting and Elections” and “Math Modeling,” was also highly impactful, helping students see that “there was a goal to learning all of the math,” said Jack Trent ’23.

“Where a class like ’‘Groups, [Rings, and Fields]’ isn’t going to come up in conversation, ’‘Voting and Elections’ is,” Trent said.

As Massachusetts considered approval voting, Trent was able to integrate course topics into talking points on campus.

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Trent described Leise’s “deep-seated confidence, moving through lectures with an air of calm.”

“She was going through complicated material but presented it so well and so assuredly. It made students feel like there was not a high cost in learning material,” Trent said.

Although Trent took both of his classes with Leise during the pandemic, she was “constantly checking in and we had great-natured interactions.”

Beyond her interactions with students, Leise played an invaluable role in the math department at the college by serving as depart-

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ment chair, math colloquia organizer, and comprehensive exam director. She also created the college’s applied mathematics curriculum.

“Tanya will be greatly missed by the Amherst community, for which she gave so much,” said Catherine Epstein, provost and dean of the faculty, in a campus-wide email on Jan. 20.

Leise graduated with honors from Stanford University with a B.S. in mathematics, and received both an M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from Texas A&M University.

With widely cited research pertaining to biomathematics, mathematical modeling, and circadian rhythms, Leise’s impact extends far

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The chief student affairs officer is responsible for overseeing the functions of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), which is responsible for all facets of student life. The dean of students typically has a more refined focus within the OSA, managing housing, student activities, and the resource centers, among other areas.

Agosto joined the college as dean of students in June 2019. She assumed her second role atop the OSA after the departure of the previous chief student affairs officer, Karu Kozuma, in 2021.

In an email on Jan. 25, Elliott announced that Angie Tissi-Gassoway, who had spent the past 14 months as interim chief equity and inclusion officer, would serve as chief student affairs officer

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