The Logic of Creativity: Music, Mathematics, and Expression
About this Event
121 Crouse Dr, Syracuse, NY 13244
The School of Education and Hendricks Chapel host accomplished pianist, composer, and mathematician Eugenia Cheng (currently Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago).
In a piano performance and lecture showcasing math’s creative side, Cheng will demonstrate how math is pivotal to solving complex everyday problems and advancing social justice. Reception and book sale to follow.
A 2025-2026 Syracuse Symposium event. Presented by the Syracuse University School of Education’s Harry S. and Elva K. Ganders Memorial Fund Lecture Series. Co-sponsored by Syracuse University Humanities Center, Historical Keyboarding Working Group of the CNY Humanities Corridor, Setnor School of Music, and The Study Council.
About Eugenia Cheng
Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, author, public speaker, columnist, concert pianist, composer, and artist. Alongside her research into category theory and her undergraduate teaching, she aims to rid the world of “math phobia.”
Currently the Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Cheng is tenured in Pure Mathematics at the University of Sheffield, UK, and an Honorary Visiting Fellow at City University of London.
Cheng’s YouTube videos have 15 million views and counting. Her first popular book—How to Bake Pi (Basic, 2015)—led to acclaim from The New York Times, National Geographic, and Scientific American, and she has been interviewed on the BBC, NPR, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She also writes the "Everyday Math" column for the Wall Street Journal and, in 2018, Cheng performed a TEDx talk on math and inequality.
Other books include Beyond Infinity (Profile, 2017); The Art of Logic (Basic, 2018); x+y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender (Basic, 2020); The Joy of Abstraction (Cambridge, 2022); and Is Maths Real? (Basic, 2023). She has written two children’s books: Molly and the Mathematical Mysteries (Big Picture, 2021) and Bake Infinite Pie with x+y (Little, Brown, 2022).
As an artist and composer, Cheng has completed mathematical art commissions for Hotel EMC2, 6018 North, Lubeznik Center, and Cultural Center, Chicago. She also is the founder of the Liederstube, an intimate oasis for art and song based in Chicago, and has been commissioned by Grammy Award-nominated soprano Laura Strickling. She also composes for the Lynx Amplify series, setting to music work by primarily non-speaking autistic poets.
