Brendon Rhoades

Brendon Rhoades is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He completed his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Minnesota in 2008 under advisor Vic Reiner. Prior to joining UCSD, Rhoades held positions as an NTT Assistant Professor at USC (2011-2012), an Instructor of Applied Mathematics at MIT (2009-2011), and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Berkeley (2008-2009). He is an editor-in-chief of Algebraic Combinatorics and a managing editor of the Journal of Combinatorics, while co-organizing the UCSD Combinatorics Seminar.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Mathematics, University of Minnesota, 2008
  • B.S., Mathematics, University of Michigan

Rhoades' research lies at the intersection of Algebraic Combinatorics, with a focus on representation theory, cluster algebras, hyperplane arrangements, and cyclic sieving phenomena. His work connects Kazhdan-Lusztig theory, Coxeter-Catalan combinatorics, and superspace structures to solve problems in enumeration and algebraic geometry. Recent publications explore orbit harmonics rings, Hilbert series, and combinatorial models for fermionic coinvariant rings.

Research Trends from his 15 most recent articles include algebraic combinatorics, representation theory, superspace coinvariants, hyperplane arrangements, and geometric methods in enumerative problems. Key subfields involve cyclic sieving, cluster algebras, permutation statistics, and topological combinatorics.

Scientific Awards:

• NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Rhoades has mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students, including Raymond Chou (SEW Postdoc 2023-2026), Josh Swanson (SEW Postdoc 2018-2021), and former Ph.D. students like Tanny Libman (Art of Problem Solving), Tianyi Yu (UQAM), Jesse Kim (University of Florida), Daniël Kroes (Rubrik), Kyle Meyer (UCSD Lecturer), Dun Qiu (Nankai University), and Michelle Bodnar (Google). He also supervised summer research groups at UCSD and organized collaborative programs like the Collaborative Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE).

Rhoades' teaching portfolio includes graduate courses on combinatorics and applied algebra, as well as undergraduate classes in linear algebra, topology, and discrete mathematics. He frequently presents at international conferences (e.g., FPSAC, AlCoVE, qt-Combinatorics in Algebra, Geometry, and Topology) and has upcoming research visits to Japan, Providence, and Banff.