Rate My Professor Barbara Prinari

Barbara Prinari is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University at Buffalo. She earned her PhD in Physics from the University of Lecce, Italy, in 1999, and her Laurea in Fisica from the same university in 1996. Prinari's research focuses on nonlinear waves and integrable systems. She develops the Inverse Scattering Transform as a tool to solve initial-value problems for scalar, vector, and matrix continuous and discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations with both vanishing and nonvanishing boundary conditions at infinity. Her work addresses solitons and rogue wave solutions, vector soliton interactions, and other integrable systems including short-pulse systems, Maxwell-Bloch equations, and the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equations in two spatial dimensions. Additionally, she applies mathematical models to social and behavioral sciences, such as generalized kinetic methods and artificial neural networks to analyze and control quality in neuropsychiatric wards, and dynamical systems models for triadic reciprocal determinism to study stress responses and interactions among coping self-efficacy, behavior, and environmental perception.

Prior to her current position, Prinari served as Professor of Mathematics at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs from 2016 to 2019, Associate Professor from 2012 to 2016, and Assistant Professor from 2009 to 2012. She also held positions at the University of Salento and visiting roles at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prinari co-authored the book Discrete and Continuous Nonlinear Schrödinger Systems, LMS Lecture Notes Series 302, Cambridge University Press (2004), with M.J. Ablowitz and A.D. Trubatch. Selected publications include "Inverse Scattering Transform for nonlinear Schrödinger system on a nontrivial background: a survey of classical results, new developments and future directions" (Journal of Nonlinear Mathematical Physics, 2023), "Inverse scattering transform for the complex short-pulse equation by a Riemann-Hilbert approach" (European Physical Journal Plus, 2020), "The three-component defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation with nonzero boundary conditions" (Communications in Mathematical Physics, 2016), and "Dark-bright soliton solutions with nontrivial polarization interactions for the three-component defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation with nonzero boundary conditions" (Journal of Mathematical Physics, 2015). She received the 2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for teaching and research on wave phenomena at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Prinari is co-founder and deputy editor of the Cambridge Journal of Nonlinear Waves.