Christian Gaetz

Christian Gaetz is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, appointed in 2024. He earned his PhD in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2021, advised by Alexander Postnikov, with a thesis entitled "New Combinatorics of the Weak and Strong Bruhat Orders." Prior to his current position, Gaetz was a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University, mentored by Karola Meszaros and Allen Knutson, and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, mentored by Lauren Williams. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, advised by Vic Reiner. Gaetz received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship during his graduate studies.

Gaetz's research lies in algebraic combinatorics and its connections to representation theory and algebraic geometry. His publications appear in leading journals including Advances in Mathematics, Inventiones Mathematicae, Selecta Mathematica, and the Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A. Key works include "On the minimal power of q in a Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial" with Yibo Gao (Advances in Mathematics, 2024), "Promotion permutations for tableaux" with Oliver Pechenik, Stephan Pfannerer, Jessica Striker, and Joshua P. Swanson (Combinatorial Theory, 2024), "Rotation-invariant web bases from hourglass plabic graphs" with Pechenik, Pfannerer, Striker, and Swanson (Inventiones Mathematicae, 2026), and "The BBDVW Conjecture for Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of lower intervals" with Grant T. Barkley (International Mathematics Research Notices, 2026). His research has garnered over 300 citations on Google Scholar. At Berkeley, Gaetz advises graduate students such as Pranav Enugandla and Cameron Chang in algebraic combinatorics, co-organizes the Combinatorics Seminar, and has extensive prior mentoring experience through programs like MIT PRIMES and Directed Reading Program.

Professional Email: gaetz@berkeley.edu