Erica Flapan (born August 14, 1956) is an American mathematician, the Lingurn H. Burkhead Professor of Mathematics at Pomona College.
She is the aunt of sociologist Heather Schoenfeld [1] Flapan did her undergraduate studies at Hamilton College (New York), graduating in 1977,[2][3] and went on to graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning a Ph.D. in 1983 under the supervision of Daniel McMillan.
Flapan is the author or coauthor of books including: Her edited volumes include Applications of Knot Theory (with Dorothy Buck, 2009), Knots, Links, Spatial Graphs, and Algebraic Invariants (with Allison Henrich, Aaron Kaestner, and Sam Nelson, 2017), and Topology and Geometry of Biopolymers (with Helen Wong, 2018).
[10] In recognition of her devotion to mentoring, Flapan won the M. Gweneth Humphreys Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics in 2018.
[11] She will deliver the Chan Stanek Lecture for Students at MathFest 2021.