Director of the data science program and a professor in the math department, Nancy Eaton mixes her creative blues with her mathematical reds to compromise on an equal balance of purple. PHOTO CREDIT: uri.edu
Nancy Eaton wakes up every weekday, completes the Wordle, Quordle and Octordle, and then heads to the University of Rhode Island, where she has worked for 30 years.
As the director of the data science program and a professor in the math department, she educates students on various methods of data science application by combining math, statistics and computer science.
Eaton grew up in South Kingstown, Rhode Island and has enjoyed math since the first grade. According to Eaton, her friends often turned to her for any math-related questions.
“I was good at it,” Eaton said. “It gave me something to feel good about.”
Despite this, Eaton stated that her A’s went largely unnoticed by instructors and she decided to enter higher education for art upon graduation.
After starting a family and thinking about her future, Eaton left art school.
She said she eventually went back to study computer science at the Dutchess Community College in New York when it was popular in the eighties, reigniting her interest in mathematics. After receiving her associate’s degree in computer science, then her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from State University of New York at New Paltz and eventually her doctorate in mathematics from Emory University in Georgia, all while raising her children.
As a woman in STEM, Eaton finds it important to encourage women in the classroom and make sure that their work is recognized. When talking about her own experience, she spoke of the difficulties that accompanied it.
“I feel like I had to suppress my personality a bit throughout the whole thing,” Eaton said. “I felt like maybe it wasn’t necessary but it was one way to go to make it easier.”
Eaton entered the position of director of the data science program in 2020. Just as she rediscovered a love for math in undergrad, she stated that entering the position brought back an appreciation for data science and its constant evolution. She added that with the flexibility of today’s workplace environment, choosing to work outdoors can ease the reality of being at a computer no matter what.
In addition to her professional career, Eaton finds inspiration from nature to paint in her free time. She recently decided to get back into painting, and she attends weekly meetings with an online group where they partake in regular assignments. At the moment, she said they are submitting paintings of birds. Other paintings of Eaton’s have showcased petunias and natural landscapes with popping colors.
“You learn to see colors that are there and you learn to accentuate them a bit,” Eaton said.
Eaton referenced Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” to explain the importance of appreciating the natural land before it’s gone.
She said she mixes her creative blues with her mathematical reds to compromise on an equal balance of purple. While math has existed as the foreground of her professional career, she has found time to express herself creatively. To provide a bit of advice for current students, she says that finding one’s passion should be a priority.
“Take advantage of that and just trust that it’ll come out in the future, you keep learning as you go,” Eaton said.