Brown’s Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) will host the 2012 Blackwell-Tapia Conference, a two-day event recognizing the contributions of minority mathematicians. The conference opens Friday, Nov.9, 2012, with talks and presentations by top mathematicians from around the country and closes Saturday evening with a dinner honoring this year’s Blackwell-Tapia Prize winner, Ricardo Cortez of Tulane University. The prize recognizes a mathematical scientist who has contributed significantly to mathematics research and serves as a role model for mathematicians from underrepresented groups. The is the seventh installment of the conference named for David Blackwell and Richard Tapia, two pioneering mathematicians who inspired a generation of African-American, Native American, and Latino/a students to pursue careers in mathematics.