
Don’t try to follow Kaavya Valiveti on social media. That’s not where she lives. UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior feels most at home at a chalkboard solving linear algebra problems.
Picture Matt Damon in the movie, Good Will Hunting or Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, except that this math prodigy is breaking gender barriers in a male-dominated field.
Her natural tendency is to shun the spotlight — though that’s about to change.
“I’m still that nerdy, geeky kid that I was in school living inside my own imagination, but I’m coming out my shell,” says Valiveti, 21, winner of the campus’s coveted University Medal, which recognizes outstanding scholarship, public service and strength of character.
Read the full profile on Berkeley News.