Rate My Professor Marion Campisi

Marion Campisi is an Associate Professor of Geometry and Topology in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at San José State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California, Davis, and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research spans geometric topology, low-dimensional topology, three-dimensional manifolds, and knot theory. Additionally, she explores gerrymandering, districting, and metric geometry, as well as topological techniques for studying biopolymers. These interests bridge pure mathematics with applications in political science and biological structures.

Campisi joined San José State University as an Assistant Professor in Mathematics in 2015 and was promoted to Associate Professor. Her publication record includes key contributions to knot theory and gerrymandering analysis. Notable papers are 'The disk complex and topologically minimal surfaces in the 3-sphere' (Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications, 2020, co-authored with Luis Torres), which establishes homotopy equivalence results for Heegaard surfaces; 'Geography and Election Outcome Metric: An Introduction' (Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 2022, with Thomas Ratliff, Stephanie Somersille, and Ellen Veomett), proposing a metric to quantify potential partisan gerrymanders using geographic and election data; 'Vertex distortion detects the unknot' (Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications, 2022, with Nicholas Cazet, David Crncevic, Tasha Fellman, and Phillip Jones); 'Distortion and the bridge distance of knots' (Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2020); 'Declination as a Metric to Detect Partisan Gerrymandering' (2018, with Andrea Padilla, Thomas Ratliff, and Ellen Veomett); and 'Kirby-Thompson distance for trisections of knotted surfaces' (Journal of the London Mathematical Society, 2022). She has authored op-eds like 'Why basic math needs to be central to the study of democracy and politics' (Public Voices, 2020), leading to her affiliation as a Scholar with the Institute of Math and Democracy. Campisi delivers invited lectures at conferences such as the Joint Mathematics Meetings and Pacific Northwest Sectional Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America, covering topics from knot distortion to gerrymandering tools. She co-leads the Equity and Access in Discrete Mathematics project at San José State University, enhancing access for underrepresented students. Her work influences discussions on fair districting and topological invariants in academic and public forums.