Dominique Maldague

Dominique Maldague is a harmonic analyst with a background in extremization (studying "sharp" versions of classical inequalities) and with a recent focus on decoupling and restriction theory. She earned her PhD from UC Berkeley in 2019 under her advisor Mike Christ. Prior to studying math, Dominique trained as a classical ballet dancer and violinist. She attended the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC,  but an injury prevented her from further pursuing this discipline. At 17, she began her studies at Santa Monica College. To help support herself during this time, she spent weekends on tour playing violin as back-up for the Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis.

After transferring to UC Berkeley as an undergraduate at 19, Dominique decided to study mathematics. She believes that her performing arts background benefited her when it came to choosing a field: after not being in traditional school beyond 7th grade, the idea of studying any field was equally intimidating. This led her to choose the subject that she felt made the most sense, unburdened by the belief that women aren't mathematicians which people with traditional schooling might have internalized. She is also grateful to Prof. Lauren Williams, whose encouragement strengthened her resolve to pursue math research.