Apurva Nakade
Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Johns Hopkins University
Experience
Assistant Teaching Professor, Johns Hopkins University
2026-Present
Senior Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University
2023-2026
Postdoctoral Lecturer, Northwestern University
2021-2023
Instructor, Causeway Postbaccalaureate Program, Northwestern University
2022
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Western Ontario
2019-2021
Academic Coordinator, Canada/USA Mathcamp
2018
Mentor, Canada/USA Mathcamp
2017-2020
Organizer and Mentor, Directed Reading Program, UWO and JHU
2017-2021
Exotic Derivatives Trader, Nomura Capital India Pvt Ltd
2010
Education
Ph.D. in Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University
2019
M.Sc. in Mathematics, Chennai Mathematical Institute
2013
B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Kanpur
2010
Teaching
Instructor, JHU AMS
Spring 2026
- Intro to Computational Math, Spring 2026
- Discrete Math, Spring 2026
- Monte Carlo Methods, Spring 2026
Fall 2025
- Monte Carlo Methods, Fall 2025
- Discrete Math, Fall 2025
Summer 2025
- Mathematical Foundations of AI, Summer 2025
- Intermediate Probability and Statistics, Summer 2025
- Honors Algebra II, Summer 2025
Spring 2025
- Discrete Math, Spring 2025
- Monte Carlo Methods, Spring 2025
- Honors Algebra II, Spring 2025
- Intermediate Probability and Statistics, Spring 2025
Fall 2024
- Discrete Math, Fall 2024
- Monte Carlo Methods, Fall 2024
- Honors Algebra II, Fall 2024
Summer 2024
- Exploring Engineering Innovation, Summer 2024
Spring 2024
- Graph theory, Spring 2024
- Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Spring 2024
- Honors Algebra II, Spring 2024
Fall 2023
- Discrete Math, Fall 2023
Instructor, Northwestern
- Elementary Differential Equations, Spring 2023
- MENU Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus, (Coordinator) 2022-23
- Introduction to Optimization, Winter, Spring 2022
- Single Variable Calculus, Fall 2021
- MENU Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus, 2021-22
- Foundations of Mathematics, Winter 2023
- Elementary Differential Equations, Spring 2023
Instructor, UWO
- Algebraic Topology (graduate level), Winter 2021
- Topology Bootcamp, Fall 2020
- Discrete Structures for Engineering, Fall 2020
- Calculus II for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Winter 2020
- Calculus I for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Fall 2019
- Topics in Category Theory, Fall 2019
Instructor, JHU
- Honors Single Variable Calculus, Fall 2018, 2017
- Symmetries & Polynomials, Intersession 2018
- Hitchhikers Guide to Algebraic Topology, Intersession 2017
- Differential Equations with Applications, Summer 2017, 2015
- Online Linear Algebra, Summer 2014
Academic Co-coordinator, Canada/USA Mathcamp
- Planned the five week academic schedule
- Part of the mentor hiring committee
- Invited visiting speakers
Mentor/Staff, Canada/USA Mathcamp
- Designed and taught a variety of undergraduate-level courses
- Was residential and academic advisor at camp
- Part of the mentor hiring committee - Taught a course at Mathcamp 2020
- Contributed to Lean’s surreal numbers math library
- Contributed to Lean’s convex optimization math library
Papers
String structures, 2-group bundles, and a categorification of the Freed-Quinn line bundle, Daniel Berwick-Evans, Emily Cliff, Laura Murray, Apurva Nakade, Emma Phillips, Quantum Symmetries, Contemporary Mathematics, vol. 813, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, pp. 257-301
2025
Manifold Calculus and the h-principle, The Journal of Homotopy and Related Structures
2019
Effect of increasing the energy gap between the two lowest energy states on the mixing time of the Metropolis algorithm (with Somenath Biswas), Information Processing Letters, IPL4801 (2012.08.012)
2012
Projects
Course Design: Discrete Mathematics, JHU
- Modernized the course using evidence-driven pedagogical techniques
- Adapted an online textbook to better match current student mindsets
- Introduced homework resubmissions to reinforce student learning
- Introduced online assessments to improve feedback
- Restructured exams to better gauge student learning
Open Educational Resources Textbook for Linear Algebra, NU
- Added WeBWorK problems to a Linear Algebra PreTeXt OER textbook
Course Design: Introduction to Optimization, UWO
- Restructured the course to include applications and modeling
- Created course notes in RMarkdown
- Created Excel worksheet assignments for modeling scenarios
Course Design: Discrete Structures for Engineering, UWO
- Adapted the course for online asynchronous delivery
- Helped code (in a team) hundreds of problems on WeBWork
- Made short weekly video lectures to support the course text
- Maintained an active discussion forum on Piazza
- Gave a talk about the course design at a conference on E-Assessment in Mathematical Sciences
Course Design: Honors Single Variable Course (IBL), JHU
- Designed and taught a semester long course structured in a flipped classroom format for two semesters
Course Design: Intersession courses, JHU
- Designed and taught a 2-week course titled Symmetries & Polynomials introducing Galois theory to non-math majors
- Designed and taught a 2-week course Hitchhiker’s Guide to Algebraic Topology introducing algebraic topology to non-math majors
Course Design: Canada/USA Mathcamp courses
- Designed and taught several week-long math courses to advanced highschool students
- Course topics: Theorem proving in Lean, Visualizing 3-manifolds, Riemann surfaces, Crash Course on Linear Algebra, Covering Spaces, Cohomology etc.
Grants & Awards
Open Educational Resources Faculty Grant (joint with Dhruv Azad), JHU
2026
- $5000 to develop interactive visualization apps for computational math courses
Open Educational Resources Faculty Grant (joint with Aaron Greicius), NU
2022
William Kelso Morrill Award for Excellence in Mathematics, JHU
2019
Finalist for the KSAS Excellence in Teaching Awards, JHU
2019
Prof. Joel Dean Award for Excellence in Teaching in Mathematics, JHU
2016
AMS Graduate Student Travel Grant
2019
Service
Member of DS Masters admissions committee in JHU AMS department
2025-2026
Helped connect undergraduate students with research mentors in JHU AMS department
2024-2025
Judge for poster presentations at JHU Matrix Conference
2025
Judge for poster presentations at MAA MD-DC-VA Section Meeting
Fall 2024
Supplementary Instructor for the Causeway Postbaccalaureate Program, NU
2022
Directed Reading Program, UWO, JHU
2017-2021
- Started DRP at UWO in Fall 2019
- Organizer and mentor for DRP at JHU and UWO Professional Development
Professional Development
Faculty Forward Fellowship, JHU
2025
Introduction to Education Research Workshop, JHU
2023
MAA Section NExT Fellow, 2023 cohort
2023-25
Mathematical Association of America Fellow
2020-Present
MAA Project NExT Fellow, Brown’20 cohort
2020
Teaching Academy Certification, JHU
2019
Participated in several workshops by the Center of Teaching & Learning at UWO
2019-2020
Participated in the MSRI Critical Issues in Mathematics Education Workshop
2022
Participated in the MAA Modeling Inspiration for Differential Equations Workshop
2022
Participated in online Mastery Grading Workshop
2019
Attended the Science of Learning Symposium, JHU
2014-2018
Talks
Discrete Chern–Simons via 2-group bundles on elliptic curves, CMS Session on Homotopy Theory
2020
What is a Spectrum?, University of Western Ontario, Basic Notions Seminar
2020
Manifold calculus and the \(h\)-principle
2017-2019
- University of Regina, Geometry & Topology Seminar, 2019
- University of Western Ontario, Geometry & Topology Seminar, 2019
- University of Rochester, Topology Seminar, 2019
- Workshop on Functor Calculus, Ohio State University, 2019
- Spaces of Embeddings, BIRS, Banff, 2019
- AMS Special Session in Homotopy Theory, UC Riverside, 2017
Weiss fibration sequence, MIT Talbot Workshop
2019
Constructing a Homotopy Type for Triply-Graded Link Homology, AMS Sectional Meeting, University of Hawaii
2019
Homotopy colimits and limits, European Autumn School in Topology
2017
Conferences Attended
Spring 2024
Fall 2023
2022
Project NExT at MAA Mathfest, Online
2021
Spaces of Embeddings, BIRS, Banff
2019
MSRI Summer School, Cortona, Italy
2019
MRC Workshop, Providence RI
2019
MIT Talbot Workshop, Austin TX
2019
Workshop on Functor Calculus, Ohio State University
2019
AMS Sectional Meeting, University of Hawaii
2019
Arizona Winter School, Arizona State University
2019
Joint Mathematical Meetings, Baltimore
2019
Symplectic Geometry and Homotopy Theory, UCLA
2018
MSRI Summer School, Fields Institute, Toronto
2018
Graduate Student Conference, Temple University
2018
AMS Sectional Meeting, UC Riverside
2017
European Autumn School in Topology, Netherlands
2017
Topology Festival, Cornell University
2017
Georgia International Topology Conference, University of Georgia
2017
Alpine Algebraic & Applied Topology Conference, Switzerland
2016
WCATSS, University of Oregon, Eugene
2016
GSTSC, Indiana University, Bloomington
2016
Mid-Atlantic Topology Conference, Johns Hopkins University
2016
Midwest Topology Seminar, Northwestern University
2016
Geometry and Topology Conference, Lehigh University
2015
Mid-Atlantic Topology Conference, University of Virginia
2015
Midwest Topology Seminar, University of Illinois Chicago
2015
Midwest Topology Seminar, Northwestern University
2015
Modular invariants in Topology and Analysis, Regensburg
2015
WCATSS on Field theories, UBC
2015
Introductory Workshop on Algebraic Topology, MSRI
2015
Joint Mathematical Meetings, Baltimore
2015
Classification of Manifolds, NEHU
2013
H-principle, Chennai Mathematical Institute
2012
Groups and geometries, ISI, Bangalore
2012
String Topology, Vivekananda University
2012
Kervaire Invariant One, ISI, Kolkata
2012
Number Theory workshop, Tezpur University
2011
Lie algebras and their representations, CMI
2011
Nurture camp, Institute of Mathematical Sciences
2007
IMO, Slovenia
2006
IMOTC, HBCSC
2003-2006
Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY)
2005