Daniela Nikolova-Popova demonstrates an equation during the conference Group Theory, Combinatorics and Computing, held in Highland Beach. Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star
By Libby Volgyes
It doesn’t matter that Daniela Nikolova-Popova has studied and researched extraordinarily complex mathematics all over the world.
The brains of undergraduate Florida Atlantic University students still invigorate her these days.
“You need these young people, and they need you,” she said. “Through the process of teaching, you develop these ideas. I have been doing both (research and teaching) all my life … But you cannot be a good teacher without inspiring them into research and showing them your own research.”
Nikolova-Popova came to FAU six years ago at the urging of Professor Spyros Magliveras, the chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, who met her in Germany at a research conference in 2005.
Though she was born in Bulgaria to a family of mathematicians — her mother a university professor in geometry, her uncle a distinguished professor in complex analysis, her cousin a professor in modeling theory and her father an engineer — for a while she struggled with the decision of whether she should follow in those family members’ footsteps.
“I was interested in mathematics and language,” she said. “For some time, I had a dilemma — whether to go into mathematics or languages. My mother was discouraging me, saying it would be hard to be a woman in mathematics one day. But I chose it, knowing that if I chose mathematics I would still use languages, but if I chose languages, I would not use mathematics.”
By the time she was 25, she knew German, Russian, English, French and Bulgarian. Her choice of mathematics led her to specialize in group theory, computer algebra, combinatorics, artificial intelligence and computer science. She also has a special interest in gender studies.
“Usually boys and girls start on an equal basis, but then girls do not have the courage to persevere in careers in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for different reasons,” she said.
“So the purpose of gender studies in general is to promote, to encourage girls to have the courage to do that. They are not more stupid than men; they simply do not believe it. Of course, it’s more difficult to have a family. But one is sure there’s not a physical difference in the brain between girls and boys.”
As part of her ongoing encouragement of women in mathematics, she gave a special session for women scientists at the most recent conference she hosted at FAU — Group Theory, Combinatorics and Computing, staged Oct. 3-8 at the Highland Beach Holiday Inn. The conference brought in mathematicians from all over the world, representing 14 different nationalities. Thirty percent of the speakers invited were women.
“It’s a continuous process (passing information) from the older generation to the younger generation,” she said.
This is not the first notable conference she’s put on. She started organizing them in 2000 in Varna, Bulgaria — that one was titled “Algebraic Combinatorics and Computer Algebra.”
Then, in 2002, she put on another for the group European Women in Mathematics. The conference coincided with her 50th birthday. Ten years later — though it didn’t fall exactly on her birthday — she wanted to do it again for her 60th birthday.
Nikolova-Popova lives in Ocean Ridge and wakes up early every morning to do two things: photograph the sunrise and then go for a swim in the ocean.
While the words of Baudelaire float through her head, she gazes at the clouds and allows herself this time to enjoy Florida nature — the birds, the clouds, the sun shining down on her. Soon it will be time for her students once again.
“It’s amazing how creative these students can be when you give them a hand and show them the way,” she said. “When you show them how you can apply their knowledge, they get very excited.”
She met her husband, Georgi Popova, in 1985 at the Technical University in Aachen, Germany. They got married exactly six months later.
Although Georgi is an engineer, their two sons are both dedicating their lives to music, not mathematics.
Theodor, 25, attended Princeton on a full scholarship and became an opera composer.
Borislav, 23, is a baritone opera singer graduating in Bulgaria this year.
Nikolova-Popova loves the arts and spends her time at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Kravis Center attending musicals, opera and theater.
“No wonder that my children went into art, because it was sleeping in me all my life,” she said.
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