Maggie Miller Receives Prestigious Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering

Maggie Miller, a mathematician at The University of Texas at Austin, is among 20 outstanding early-career STEM researchers announced today by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation as members of its 2025 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering. 

A topologist who studies geometric properties in three, four and five dimensions, Miller especially explores the limits of strange behavior that can be observed in four-dimensional spaces (i.e., three directions of motion and a fourth of time). Many strange phenomena happen in such four-dimensional spaces, requiring special mathematical tools. Miller’s research focuses specifically on knotted surfaces in four-manifolds. 

“This is a particularly significant award for which all sorts of scientists and engineers receive consideration, and only exceptional mathematicians have won this prize,” said Francesco Maggi, chair of the Department of Mathematics. “Dr. Miller has been extraordinary not only in her scholarship, but also in her ability to mentor and lead graduate and undergraduate students, and in collaborating with other math faculty for the creation of an extremely lively community of topologists.”

Each Packard Fellow receives $875,000 over five years to pursue their research. Since 1988, the Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering have helped some 700 scientists and engineers and three dozen mathematicians drive transformative work in their fields with flexible funding. Fellows receive unrestricted funds that they can use as they choose to test novel ideas and lead research that drives real-world impact. 

Miller is the first UT Austin mathematician to win the award. The Packard Fellowship is only the latest accolade for the assistant professor, who also received her bachelor’s of science in mathematics from UT. In 2022, she received the Breakthrough Prize-affiliated Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize. She previously had been named a Sloan Fellow, a Clay Fellow, a Stanford Science Fellow and an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow researching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Forbes named Miller one of its “30 Under 30” in science in 2023, and her research has been featured in the popular science press, including Quanta Magazine. After studying under Cameron Gordon at UT as an undergraduate, she went on to receive her Ph.D. from Princeton University. 

“I’m grateful to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for the opportunity this fellowship presents,” Miller said, “and I am very excited to pursue my topological research further in the next several years.” 

Inspired by David Packard’s passion for science and engineering and commitment to strengthening university-based science and engineering programs in the United States, Packard Fellowships were developed in part from a recognition of how private sector successes grow from breakthroughs at universities. 

“David Packard believed that science was the cornerstone of America’s progress,” said Nancy Lindborg, president and CEO of the Packard Foundation. “He invested in science not only because it drives innovation, but because it is a public good that strengthens our society and our shared future. Today, that vision matters more than ever.”

Over the decades, Fellows’ discoveries have helped protect species, develop new vaccines and launch technologies that improve our daily lives. Fellows have gone on to receive many of the field’s highest honors, including Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics, Fields Medals, Alan T. Waterman Awards, Breakthrough Prizes, Kavli Prizes and elections to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. 

Previous recipients of Packard Fellowships from UT Austin include Roger Bonnecaze, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering; Brian Belardi, Mark Hamilton, Jennifer Maynard, Thomas Truskett and Zheng Wang, also of the Cockrell School; Devleena Samanta of the Department of Chemistry; Daniel Jaffe of the Department of Astronomy; Paul Macdonald and Edward Marcotte of the Department of Molecular Biosciences; and Brent Waters and David Zuckerman of the Department of Computer Science.

UT Austin was one of 50 universities invited to nominate up to two faculty members for consideration this year. The Packard Fellowships Advisory Panel, a group of 12 internationally recognized scientists and engineers, evaluates nominations and recommends Fellows for approval by the Packard Foundation Board of Trustees.   

“This extraordinary class of Fellows joins a community whose discoveries are shaping the world today and whose ideas will fuel the breakthroughs of tomorrow,” said Dr. Richard Alley, chair of the Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering Advisory Panel and a 1991 Packard Fellow. “We’re excited to welcome them to the Fellowship, connect them across fields and give them the freedom to ask audacious questions to build the future together.”