Jesse Leo Kass

Jesse Leo Kass

Associate Professor of Mathematics
University of California, Santa Cruz
McHenry Building, Room 4174
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
[email protected]
Research interests: I work in algebraic geometry with a focus on abelian varieties, compactified Jacobians, moduli of sheaves, and arithmetic curve counting. I also maintain an interest in the history of African-Americans in mathematics.

I am part of the Algebra Group at UC Santa Cruz. My research is supported by the National Security Agency (Grant H98230-15-1-0264), the Simons Foundation (Award 429929), and the National Science Foundation (Grant 2001565).

During college, I worked at the Ross Mathematics Program for several summers. The program is a six-week residential program for high school students and an excellent experience for talented students interested in mathematics.

Selected Publications

View complete publications list | Download CV

Pure Mathematics (Selected Recent Papers)

Extending the Torelli map to alternative compactifications of the moduli space of curves
with C. Han and M. Satriano
Submitted. 41 pages (May 2024)
A relative orientation for the moduli space of stable maps to a del Pezzo surface
with M. Levine, J. P. Solomon, K. Wickelgren
Submitted. 80 pages (July 2023)
A quadratically enriched count of rational curves
with M. Levine, J. P. Solomon, K. Wickelgren
Submitted. 47 pages (July 2023)
Counting rational points on the Hilbert scheme of pairs of points in the plane
with F. Thorne
Submitted. 19 pages (May 2023)
An arithmetic count of lines on a smooth cubic surface
with K. Wickelgren
Compositio Mathematica, 157(4), 677–709 (2021)
The stability space of compactified universal Jacobians
with N. Pagani
Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 372 (2019), no. 7, 4851–4887
The class of Eisenbud-Khimshiashvili-Levine is the local A¹-Brouwer degree
with K. Wickelgren
Duke Math. J. 168 (2019), no. 3, 429–469
Extensions of the universal theta divisor
with N. Pagani
Advances in Mathematics 321(1) (2017) 221–268

History

Joseph Carter Corbin: Arkansas's "Profound Mathematician"
Notices Amer. Math. Soc. 70 (2023), no. 2, 293–300

Arkansas's founding president of the Branch Normal College (now UAPB) during Reconstruction. The arXiv version includes additional material.

South Carolina's effort to cancel professor tenure echoes the 1950s
Washington Post, Made by History • February 18, 2022
David L. Hunter and the desegregation of MAA meetings
MAA Focus (August-September 2021) 18–21

Instrumental in the desegregation of Mathematical Association of America meetings. Additional material in the David L. Hunter Archive. Cited in Wikipedia's entry for Dr. Hunter.

James L. Solomon and the end of segregation at the University of South Carolina
with contributions from N. Knox, H. M. Treadwell, and C. L. Solomon
Notices Amer. Math. Soc. 67 (2020), no. 2, 192–200

One of the first African-American students to desegregate USC in 1963. See also the digital archive and commemoration event.

Digital Resources

Press

Noi detalii despre Corina Tarniță și banii primiți de ea de la Epstein, dezvăluite exclusiv de un profesor de la Harvard
Libertatea • February 4, 2026
New Math Revives Geometry's Oldest Problems
Quanta Magazine • September 26, 2025
The Name-Change Charade: How a racial-justice effort at the U. of South Carolina became a smokescreen for inaction
The Chronicle of Higher Education • October 29, 2021
U. of South Carolina Wants to Rename Buildings. State Politics Will Stop It
The Chronicle of Higher Education • July 16, 2021
A Path Less Taken to the Peak of the Math World
Quanta Magazine • June 27, 2017

Teaching & Advising

Course materials are available at kassclasses.weebly.com.

When I was a graduate student, I had the honor of being a course assistant for the 7th most ridiculous-sounding math class offered at a liberal-arts college. The movie trailer for the class can be found here.

Prospective Students

Students who have attended my classes have gone to have successful careers in law, medicine, science, and professional football. Interested in working with me? Check out the advice pages of Jordan Ellenberg, Kiran Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, and David Zureick-Brown.

If you are an undergraduate thinking of asking me for a letter of recommendation, please read Keith Conrad's page on letters.

Note for Current Santa Cruz Graduate Students

I require a draft of your thesis 45 days in advance of your defense. Also, please consult this essential FAQ.

Former Students

Seminars

Video Lectures

Events Organized