May 16, 2012 - The National Blackwell-Tapia Committee recently announced that Professor Ricardo Cortez of the Mathematics Department at Tulane University was awarded the 2012 Blackwell-Tapia Prize. The prize recognizes a mathematical scientist who has contributed significantly to research in his or her field of expertise and who has served as a role model for mathematical scientists and students from underrepresented minority groups or has contributed in other significant ways to addressing the problem of the underrepresentation of minorities in mathematics. Dr. Cortez is internationally regarded as a leading researcher in fluid dynamics and mathematical modeling. He has also been a leader in undergraduate mentoring and the development of training opportunities for underrepresented minority students in the mathematical sciences. Dr. Cortez will be the guest of honor at the Seventh Blackwell-Tapia Conference at ICERM on November 9-10, 2012.