PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Tamara Kolda

Also known as Tamara G. Kolda, Tammy Kolda

Tamara Kolda is an applied mathematician known for tensor decompositions and for the Tensor Toolbox for MATLAB, which she co-developed in 2004. She earned a PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Maryland in 1997 and then held a two-year Householder Postdoctoral Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, from 1999 to 2021, and in 2003 she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. In 2020 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and became founding editor-in-chief of the SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science. She is an independent mathematical consultant under her company MathSci.ai, and she sits on the board of the First Proof Foundation, which is dedicated to understanding the capabilities of AI systems on problems that come up in math research.

Now at
MathSci.ai and First Proof Foundation
Works
239
Citations
23,802
h-index
52

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1992–1999

    Degrees and an Oak Ridge fellowship

    She earns a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1992 and a PhD in applied mathematics at the University of Maryland in 1997. She holds a two-year Householder Postdoctoral Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before joining Sandia in 1999.

  2. 1999–2021

    Distinguished member at Sandia

    She joins Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, in 1999 as a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, a post she keeps until 2021. In 2004 she co-develops the widely used Tensor Toolbox for MATLAB.

  3. 2003

    A Presidential Early Career Award

    In 2003 she receives the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest national honor for outstanding scientists and engineers embarking on an independent research career.

  4. 2015–2020

    National Academy of Engineering

    She is elected a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2015 and of the Association for Computing Machinery in 2019. In 2020 she is elected to the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the design of scientific software, including tensor decompositions and multilinear algebra.

  5. 2020

    Founding editor-in-chief at SIAM

    She becomes founding editor-in-chief of the SIAM Journal on Mathematics of Data Science in 2020.

  6. Since 2021

    Independent consulting at MathSci.ai

    She works as an independent mathematical consultant under her company MathSci.ai, which she founds in 2021. The company gives clients unbiased, objective advice in several areas, including AI adoption.

  7. 2025

    SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service

    She receives the 2025 SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession for her leadership and service to several applied mathematics communities.

  8. As of October 2026

    Board seat at First Proof

    She sits on the board of the First Proof Foundation, which is dedicated to understanding the capabilities of AI systems on problems that come up in math research.

Sources and credits

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  1. Tamara G. Kolda - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Sandia researcher wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers - News Releases newsreleases.sandia.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Tamara Kolda | Women in Mathematics | University of Waterloo uwaterloo.ca. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. 'Magical' mathematics unlocks engineering honor for Sandia scientist - LabNews sandia.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Congratulations to Tamara Kolda! - News - Department of Mathematics and Statistics - UMBC mathstat.umbc.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Career | MathSci.ai kolda.net. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. MathSci.ai kolda.net. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. First Proof Project 1stproof.org. Checked 14 October 2026.