Dr. Cecília de Souza Fernandez

is a Full Professor at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. In September 1994, she moved to Kent State University, Ohio (USA), where she received her Ph.D. in January 1998 under the supervision of Richard M. Aron in the area of ​​Complex Analysis in Infinite Dimensions. Her doctoral dissertation was awarded the "Outstanding Achievement in Research" award for providing a counterexample to a version of the Bartle-Graves Selection Theorem. She is co-author of the titles "Introduction to Functions of a Complex Variable", "Introduction to Linear Algebra", "Solved Exercises in Linear Algebra", "The Story of Hypatia and Many Other Mathematicians", and "On the Notion of Compactness", all published by the Press of the Brazilian Mathematical Society. She is also co-author of the book "Introduction to Banach Spaces," published by IMPA Press. Together with Ismênia de Lima Martins, Professor Emeritus at the Federal University of Fluminense (UFF) History Institute, she edited the book "Women and Science: Trajectories of Scientists," published by Hucitec Editora. This book marks the first event in Brazil to bring together female researchers from diverse fields, aiming to attract girls to careers in science. She served as a collaborating professor in the Graduate Program in Marine Geology/Geophysics at UFF, the Graduate Program in Geochemistry at UFF, and the Graduate Program in Marine Biology and Coastal Environments at UFF. She is accredited as an external member of the Graduate Program of the School of Medical Sciences at UERJ. She participates in research groups at INCA (National Cancer Institute), working with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. She also participated in the Latin American Network for the Study of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, a study included in the CYTED (Science and Technology for Development) Program. She participated in the Professional Master's Program in Mathematics since its implementation, including, upon invitation, having reviewed all the teaching materials for the Real Numbers and Functions course. She is also participating in the Professional Master's Program in Administration and Management of Pharmaceutical Services at UFF's School of Pharmacy. She is a pioneer in teaching "Women in Science" in Brazil, having developed and taught the course "Women and Science: Challenges and Achievements" in the Postgraduate Program in Oncology at the National Cancer Institute. She coordinates the "Women in Mathematics" project, developed at IME UFF since 2017, which aims to attract young female students from elementary schools to careers in mathematics and related fields, such as engineering and computer science.