Michelle Girvan

Michelle Girvan is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland (UMD) and an External Faculty member of the Science Steering Committee. Her research integrates methods from statistical mechanics, dynamical systems, and graph theory to address interdisciplinary, network-related problems with applications to epidemiology, genetic regulatory networks, and information cascades. She also holds appointments in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, and the Applied Math and Scientific Computing Program.

• Education: Bachelor of Science (1999) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Doctor of Philosophy (2003) from Cornell University.

Her recent work focuses on the intersection of network science and machine learning, aiming to develop theoretical frameworks and practical applications for complex systems. She has contributed to understanding cascading information dynamics, disease propagation in networks, and regulatory mechanisms in biological networks.

Her affiliations at UMD include cross-disciplinary institutes and programs, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration in physical sciences and applied mathematics.