Provost's Award for Exemplary Service and Fidelity to the Public Land Grant Mission of Montana State University: Mary Alice Carlson, Founders Day Faculty Awards, Academic Year 2023-24. Portrait of Mary Alice Carlson.

Mary Alice Carlson

Mary Alice Carlson, associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Letters and Science, has received the Provost’s Award for Exemplary Service and Fidelity to the Public Land Grant Mission of Montana State University. The award recognizes a faculty member who advances the mission of the public land-grant institution – including dedication to educating students, creating knowledge and art, and serving communities throughout the state – through sustained commitment to higher education in Montana. The award is given by the Office of Academic Affairs and includes a $2,000 honorarium.

Carlson has devoted herself to MSU’s outreach mission by working with teachers in the Gallatin Valley and across Montana. She is the principal investigator for two National Science Foundation-funded projects, including one to establish equitable teaching and learning of mathematical modeling in the elementary grades and another to implement community-based mathematical practices in rural Montana and tribal communities. Through that effort, Carlson and an undergraduate student created and ran a camp to engage Indigenous youth in culturally relevant activities. Carlson also is a senior personnel member on a third NSF grant to provide professional development and in-class support to math teachers in middle schools.

In a letter of nomination, mathematics department head Elizabeth Burroughs described Carlson as an incredible researcher, teacher and outreach leader who makes a difference on our campus and in our state.