2020 Fall Luncheon Honoree

Dr. Alexandra Tolstoy

Alexandra (Alex) Tolstoy was an applied mathematician who specialized in applying the wave equation to problems in acoustical oceanography, underwater acoustics, and signal processing for 40 years. Alex received B.A. and M.A. degrees from George Washington University in Mathematics then proceeded to get her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Applied Mathematics. She spent very productive years at the Naval Research Laboratory where she was in charge of matched-field processing efforts.  She then became a senior scientist with Integrated Performance Decisions, while at the same time she was affiliated faculty with the University of Hawaii, and later founded Tolstoy science.  Alex is the author of over a hundred manuscripts, has two patents, and has received many awards for her work and her presentations.

 
She was instrumental in the organization of the Women in Acoustics (WIA) Committee.  By the early 1990s, the percentage of women membership in the ASA had increased to just 12%, with women comprising 10% or less of most Technical Committees. In 1992, Alex Tolstoy solicited Herman (Hank) Medwin, president of the ASA, about the formation of a committee for women in the ASA.  With his support, Alex founded the WIA ad hoc committee and was the first chair.  The original ad hoc committee had a female representative from each technical area of ASA.  The WIA committee was accepted as a full administrative committee of the ASA in 1996.
 

Alex began a new career as a watercolorist in 2012 and is an internationally acclaimed artist. Her work can be seen at https://www.atolstoyart.com/

 
Dr. Tolstoy is the Women in Acoustics 2020 Fall Luncheon Honoree.