Born in Redlands, California, Jillian Cervantes moved to Appleton, Wisconsin with her family when she was six. Her paternal grandparents were second generation Mexican immigrants; the family came to California in the midst of the Mexican Revolution.

Jillian was drawn to creative pursuits as a child, and her family encouraged her love of art and writing. She enjoyed high school algebra, but a career in math was far from her mind.

In 2014, Jillian enrolled to study film at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee but dropped out for financial reasons. She remained in Milwaukee, and through her nannying job met two parents, Jackie and Pablo, who were professors at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). Jackie and Pablo mentored Jillian, encouraging her to attend MATC once she turned twenty-four and became eligible for financial aid.

Jillian enrolled at MATC, intending to transfer to UW-Milwaukee for biology. A required calculus course led Jillian to discover a deep love and curiosity for mathematics. She declared a computer science major and began a software development internship. Though on paper this was an ideal position, Jillian felt that she couldn’t bring her entire identity to this workplace as a queer Latina.

Jillian had no awareness of any other Latinx mathematicians until she met her mentor, Dr. Pamela E. Harris. Having a role model convinced Jillian that she had a future in math research. A pivotal experience was attending the Field of Dreams conference, where she met a community of accomplished Latinx mathematicians who took deep pride in their heritage. Their example showed Jillian that she could be a serious mathematician without having to assimilate. In 2024, Jillian earned her BS in mathematics and began graduate studies at UW-Milwaukee. She plans to become a math professor, working to make mathematics a welcoming place for underrepresented students.

Jillian’s research with Dr. Pamela E. Harris in graph theory dominating sets has spanned her undergraduate and graduate career. Jillian and Dr. Harris have published two expository articles on domination theory in Girls’ Angle bulletin, a magazine which provides accessible articles to introduce research topics to girls in middle and high school. Their research manuscript on domination numbers and densities of the truncated square tiling graph has been submitted for publication. Jillian’s graduate work has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, an Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship, and a Graduate Fellowship for STEM Diversity. She has delivered twenty talks and presentations throughout the country on her research and experiences as a Latina mathematician.

As an undergraduate, Jillian served as UW-Milwaukee Math Club president, writing the club’s first grant to secure funding to host diverse speakers, giving students the opportunity to hear from mathematicians who look like them and share their experiences. She created a Math Club Discord server, growing the community to over 50 active members. Her efforts earned her a nomination for student organization leader of the year. Jillian also served as undergraduate research ambassador through the UW-Milwaukee Senior Excellence in Research Award, collaborating with the Office of Undergraduate Research to promote undergraduate research to the entire university. She worked as a peer calculus tutor for three semesters, earning an Outstanding Tutor award for her dedication to her students.

She has contributed to the wider mathematics community as a panelist at the Field of Dreams conference and the Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians, both of which encourage underrepresented math undergraduates to pursue graduate studies. Jillian has advocated for inclusivity in math by sharing her passion for mathematics with audiences including undergraduates, high school students, math teachers, and non-mathematicians. One of her proudest moments was being invited to serve as a recurring speaker at a Latinx majority high school on her experiences as a woman in STEM. She was also invited to speak at Math for America headquarters in New York, where she shared her work with K-12 math educators and presented open problems for the audience to work on with their students. Most recently, she was selected as an inaugural OLLI Scholar by the UW-Milwaukee Osher Lifelong Learning Institute to develop a graph domination theory course for retired adults. Jillian finds deep fulfillment in sharing mathematics broadly, because as someone who discovered a love for math in adulthood, she wants to help as many people as possible find joy in math.

In summer 2025, Jillian collaborated on a grant to secure funding for the Graph Enumeration and Mathematical Studies (GEMS) REU, which ran for six weeks at UW-Milwaukee. As a graduate research mentor, Jillian developed introductory lectures on graph domination and Python programming and helped students in the beginning stages of their first research projects. She is looking forward to continuing this work by mentoring an undergraduate student in graph theory research over the upcoming academic year.

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“Hispanic Heritage Month reminds me that my achievements are built on the accomplishments and sacrifices of my ancestors. I am deeply grateful for the privilege of pursuing a career I love, and I know that maintaining a strong Latinx community within this field is essential to my success. My journey is one that highlights the importance of representation, and I hope to serve as a role model for the Hispanic and Latinx mathematicians who follow.”

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