Kairi Black

Kairi Black joins the FAS as Lecturer in Mathematics. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Utah before earning her PhD at Duke University in 2025. Supervised by Dr. Samit Dasgupta, Black's dissertation refined the Stark Conjectures (in number theory) by combining analytic and algebraic techniques.

Black enjoys number theory's simultaneous simplicity and rich complexity, which she leverages to introduce mathematical proof to non-math majors in a course of her own design.  

Black's research has shifted to a focus on math education, with particular research interests in mathematical well-being, metacognition, embodied knowledge in mathematics, and teacher training.  

At Yale, she will continue to leverage evidence-informed instructional practices to empower students to use mathematics as a sense-making tool across their varied contexts. She will also support new instructors as they step into the classroom themselves.