C O LO R A D O S TATE
UNIVERSITY
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
2012 DISCRETE
MATHEMATICS
DAYS
2
FACULTY & STAFF
NEWS ITEMS
3
GRANT AWARDS
3
ACHTER RECEIVES
TENURE AND
PROMOTION
4
PHD/MS GRAD
UPDATES
4
UNDERGRADUATE
BRIDGE PROGRAM
5
ALUMNI NEWS
6
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
MATHEMATICS
RECENT DEGREE
CANDIDATES
SPRING 2012
PhD— 1
MS — 5
Undergraduate Majors — 29
Undergraduate Minors — 45
FALL 2011
PhD— 0
MS — 1
Undergraduate Majors — 14
Undergraduate Minors — 8
SUMMER 2011
PhD—2
MS — 1
Undergraduate Majors — 4
Undergraduate Minors — 6
SUMMER 2012
Volume 5 Issue 3
D E P A R TM E N T
O F
M AT HE MAT I CS
N E W SL E T T E R
WELCOME FROM THE DEPARMENT CHAIR
GERHARD DANGELMAYR
Welcome alumni undergraduates and graduates, as well
as our emeriti faculty and staff population. As summer
progresses, it is time to reflect on the department’s
accomplishments during my first year as department chair.
The learning curve has been steep, and I want to take this
opportunity to thank a number of individuals who mentored
me, assisted me, or encouraged me during this year. My
front office staff, Karena Alons-Topf, Bryan Elder, Christie
Franklin, Annette Gonzales and Sheri Hofeling have been
helpful in every respect. Associate Chair Alexander Hulpke
and Graduate Director Jennifer Mueller accomplished
several tasks related to undergraduate and graduate
instruction and it was always a pleasure to collaborate with
them. Hilary Freeman’s assistance in setting up the teaching schedules was
invaluable and John Dzubera continues to efficiently manage our complex
computer network. The CNS Dean’s office staff, in particular, Dean Jan Nerger,
Associate Deans Don Mykles, Jim Sites and Simon Tavener, and Jim Cox, Cheryl
Peregoy and Georgeann Venis helped me in my attempts to familiarize myself with
the complex operations of the college and the university.
Despite the weak economy, our department has continued to accomplish new
goals and expectations. We completed three successful faculty searches. I want to
thank the members of the search committees, in particular, the committee chairs
Jeanne Duflot, Alexander Hulpke and Jennifer Mueller, for their hard work. We also
introduced the new position of Calculus Facilitator (Mary Pilgrim) and designed a
distance learning program which will begin this fall. Expect complete details in our
fall edition.
2012 - 2013 DEPARTMENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ANNOUNCED
In May, prior to the closure of the SP12 semester, Department Chair Gerhard
Dangelmayr held the election for the Department Executive Committee for the
2012-13 academic year. The results of the faculty election were recently
announced. The 2012-13 Executive Committee will be led by chair, Gerhard
Dangelmayr, with faculty members Renzo Cavalieri, Margaret Cheney, Paul
Kennedy, and Jennifer Mueller. All members are elected for a one year term. The
committee will begin working towards revising the current Department Code and
prepare for the next Departmental Review scheduled by the College of Natural
Sciences during the 2013-2014 academic year.
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 2
COLORADO STATE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
CO-HOSTS THE 2012 ROCKY MOUNTAIN
DISCRETE MATHEMATICS DAYS
The 2012 Rocky Mountain Discrete Mathematics Days were held on
campus at the Lory Student Center May 18th and 19th, organized and
hosted by Tim Penttila, Colorado State and Jason Williford, the
University of Wyoming. The goal of these annual meetings is to bring
together students and researchers working in the broad area of
Discrete Mathematics to discuss their recent work and establish
collaborations. This year’s theme was Finite Geometry. The keynote
speakers were Gary Ebert and Qing Xiang, both colleagues from the
University of Delaware. There were a number of contributed talks by
faculty and their graduate students. CSU Department of Mathematics
speakers included: Anton Betten, Line Spreads in PG(3,q) Containing a
Regulus; Alexander Hulpke, Calculating in Matrix Groups; Tim Penttila,
Partial geometries; and Eric Nelson, graduate student, The Group of
the Mondello BLT-sets. Participants came from the University of
Colorado at Denver, University of Denver, University of Wyoming, University of Mary Washington, and the
University of Delaware. Below are a few photos of the conference:
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 3
FACULTY AND STAFF UPDATES . . . .NEWS ITEMS TO SHARE!
Dr. Paul Kennedy announced four new undergraduate NSF Noyce Scholars
including John Bloemker, Stacey Wheeler, Kelsey Frazier, and Eduardo Parra.
Each will receive full scholarships in their third and fourth year followed by a
commitment to teaching in high needs schools for four years. They join last
year's Noyce Scholars: Denae Worcester, Tabitha Nickerson, and Riley Russell.
The NOYCE Foundation (http://www.noycefdn.org/) has provided CSU’s School
of Teacher Education and Principal Preparation (STEPP) and the Colleges of
Natural Sciences and Engineering the opportunity to recruit and train talented
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) students for a career in
education. For complete detailed information, go to:
http://www.natsci.colostate.edu/noyce/
Prof. James Liu has been serving on the editorial board of the Journal of Computational and Applied
Mathematics (JCAM) since April 2011. JCAM publishes original papers of highly scientific value in all
areas of computational and applied mathematics. Prof. Liu mainly handles research papers on
numerical methods for partial differential equations.
Classified Personnel Council recently notified Sheri Hofeling, Accounting Tech in Mathematics and
Statistics, of her nomination for the 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award. Across campus, 30 state
classified employees were nominated, with five selected award winners. Receiving a nomination is an
honor in itself and shows Sheri’s significant contribution is of great value to our department.
Congratulations Sheri, and thank you for your contribution to Colorado State!
A University of Oxford graduate student, Liya Asner, spent a week in June at Colorado State as
a research visitor of Prof. Simon Tavener. Originally raised in the Ukraine, Liya will graduate
this summer with her DPhil in the Department of Computer Science. Her research area is in
the computational biology group. She was recently selected to begin a post doctoral
fellowship at King’s College in London. Her research with Prof. Tavener this summer seeks to
extend their earlier work on a posteriori error analysis and adaptivity for finite element
calculations of coupled canonical parabolic systems, to consider the specific example of
coupled Navier-Stokes and Darcy flow which arises when modeling such diverse systems as
aquifers and catalytic converters.
Dr. Jon Whiteley, also from the University of Oxford, visited Colorado State as a research visitor
with Prof. Simon Tavener in June 2012. Whiteley received his BA, MA, and DPhil degrees from
the University of Oxford. He currently holds an appointment as a University Lecturer at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on mathematical modelling and scientific computing
related to multiscale, multiphysics problems arising in physiology and biology. Current application areas are tissue development, the heart, the respiratory system, cell motility, the breast,
and the eye. Much of his research is in collaboration with colleagues from the Oxford Centre for
Collaborative Applied Mathematics (OCCAM), which includes Professor Tavener.
Congratulations to Assistant Prof. Patrick Ingram and his wife Elissa on the birth of their first child!
Heiko Cedar Ingram-Ross was born on April 12, 2012 at 2:22am. He weighed 7lbs 4oz. The proud
father reports the little guy is happy, healthy and adjusting well.
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 4
DEPARTMENT GRANT AWARDS JANUARY 1– MAY 31, 2012
CO-PI
Primary PI
Sponsor
Title
Amount
Edwin K P Chong Jie Luo
Johns Hopkins
Louis L. Scharf University
Ali Pezeshki
Mathematical Infrastructure
for Knowledge Enhanced
Compressive Measurement
$60,000
Mario C. Marconi Vakhtang
Putkaradze
DOD-DTRADefense Threat
Reduction
Agency
Single Molecule Detection for $497,549
Countering WMD using
Nano-Mechanical Resonator
Arrays
Louis L. Scharf
Haonan Wang
DOD-USAF
Air Force
Information Fusion from the
Point of View of Communication Theory
Louis L. Scharf
Anura P.
Jayasumana
Numerica
Corporation
Distribution Fusion and
$124,956
Pattern Detection in Networks
Michael J. Kirby
None
Yale University
Predictive Modeling and
Control of Sepis
$11,594
Renzo Cavalieri
None
NSF—National
Science
Foundation
FRG Collaborative Grant in
GW Theory
$88,692
Renzo Cavalieri
None
NSF—National
Science
Foundation
FRG Collaborative Grant in
GW Theory
$79,112
$113,167
DR. JEFF ACHTER GRANTED TENURE
AND PROMOTION TO ASSOCIATE FACULTY
Dr. Jeff Achter was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, effective
July 1, 2012. Dr. Achter received his Ph.D. in 1998 in Mathematics from the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. From 1998-2000, he was a visiting
Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
followed by a J.F. Ritt Assistant Professorship in Mathematics at Columbia University
in New York City from 2000-2003. Dr. Achter came to Colorado State in 2003, as a
Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Biology. From 2005-2007, he was a Special
Assistant Professor in Mathematics, and in 2007, he became a tenure-track
Assistant Professor. Dr. Achter’s research interests are in arithmetic geometry, at the
intersection of algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory. His research in pure
mathematics focuses on abelian varieties in positive characteristic, having
implications for coding theory, cryptography, and algorithmic number theory.
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 5
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
PhD/MS GRADUATE NEWS
SPRING 2012
Degree
Ryan Croke
Advisor
PhD
Jennifer Mueller
Christine Herrera
MS
Paul Kennedy
Michael Mikucki
MS
Simon Tavener
Francis Motta
MS
Patrick Shipman
Jaime Shinn
MS
Patrick Shipman
Melissa Swager
MS
Yongcheng Zhou
FALL 2011
Degree
Hilary Smallwood
SUMMER 2011
MS
Degree
Advisor
Jeff Achter
Advisor
Nate Burch
PhD
Don Estep
Steve Ihde
MS
Dan Bates
William Newton
PhD
Don Estep
Thesis Title
An investigation of the
Novikov-Veselov equation: New
traveling-wave solutions, a numerical
solution, instability to transverse
perturbations and implications to the
inverse scattering transform
The investigation of the strategies
that best prepare STEM majors to be
successful in college level
mathematics
Sensitivity Analysis of the Basic
Reproduction Number and other
Quantities for Infectious Disease
Models
Patterns in Dynamics
Nucleation and Growth: Modeling the
NH3-HCl Reaction
Electrodiffusion on the Surface of
Bilayer Membranes
Thesis Title
Endomorphisms of Abelian Varieties
over Finite Fields and Characteristic
Polynomials of Frobenius
Thesis Title
After Graduation
Raytheon
PhD, Texas State University
PhD, CSU
PhD, CSU
PhD, CSU
PhD, CSU
After Graduation
PhD, CSU
After Graduation
Probabilistic Foundation of Nonlocal
Diffusion and Formulation and
Analysis for Elliptic Problems on
Uncertain Domains
Preconditioning Polynomial Systems
for Homotopy Continuation Methods
SAMSI Postdoc, North
Carolina State University
A Posteriori Error Estimates for the
Poisson Problem on Closed,
Two-Dimensional Surfaces
Postdoc, CSU
PhD, CSU
Department Undergraduate Majors Participate in Summer BRIDGE Program
John Bloemker and Stacey Wheeler prepare lessons
Two junior math education majors, Stacey Wheeler, of Centennial, Colorado and John
Bloemker, of Pittsburgh, PA, will spend their summer participating in the Colorado State
BRIDGE program. This program brings to campus 12 minority, 1st generation freshmen to
get a head start with beginning their college education. During the eight-week session,
participants will take English Comp 150 and MATH 117/118. The mathematics section will
be co-instructed by undergraduates Wheeler and Bloemker, Monday through Thursday
from 4:00-5:30pm. These math education majors, under the supervision of Dr. Paul
Kennedy, will gain valuable teaching experience they will use to further their career goals
in math education. Both students are upbeat and positive. We wish them much success!
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 6
Graduate Alumni Myron S. Henry
Dr. Myron S. Henry’s biography includes professor of Mathematical
Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) from 1998
through 2008. He served as provost of USM from 1998 to 2001. Henry
retired from USM in July of 2008, but he continued at USM on a
part-time basis until the summer of 2011 through U.S. Department of
Education funded grant activity. From 1992 to 1998, Henry was provost
and professor of mathematics and computer science at Kent State
University in Northeast Ohio.
Before Kent State, Henry held positions at Old Dominion University
in Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as provost and vice president for
On the left is alumni graduate Myron S. Henry, visiting with his academic affairs (1987‑92); and Central Michigan University, where he
former PhD advisor, Max Stein, in November 2011.
was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1980‑1987). Henry
worked his way up to full professor at Montana State University (1968-1980), where he served as interim dean of the
College of Letters and Science in 1978‑1979. In a sabbatical year, Henry taught at North Carolina State University
(1975-76). He also briefly taught high school mathematics in Alexandria, Indiana.
A native of North Central Indiana, Henry earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and history from Ball State
University (BSU). With support as a NASA Trainee, Henry earned M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in mathematics from
Colorado State University. His PhD advisor was Professor Max Stein, former chair of the Department of Mathematics.
Henry is an Eagle Scout and served on the Executive Boards for the Great Trails Council (Akron, Ohio) and the
Tidewater Council (Southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina) of the Boy Scouts of America. He was a member
of the Sunrise Rotary Club of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and was Rotarian of the Year in 2002. Henry served two terms
as president of the USM Faculty Senate (2003-2004 and 2006-2007). He also served as an officer in the USM chapter
of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and as an officer in the Mississippi State Conference of
AAUP. At USM, Henry was the recipient of the College of Science and Technology Faculty Service Award in 2006 and
the University College of Science and Technology Service Award in 2007. He has visited all fifty states and has resided
in nine.
Henry has given numerous presentations on leadership topics such as planning and budgeting, strategic planning,
governance in higher education, multidimensional forms of scholarship, and faculty roles and rewards. His
presentations in mathematics have featured research topics in approximation theory and numerical algorithms for
calculating certain types of approximations. Henry has delivered talks throughout the United States and in Bulgaria,
Canada, China, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Japan, and Mexico.
Henry was co-director and co-instructor for the 2003 and 2004 USM Summer Mathematics Institutes (SM21), director and co-instructor for the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and co-director and co-instructor for the 2009 and 2010. The
Institutes were funded through the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and the U.S. Department of Education.
Henry was co-project director and an instructor for the 2006-2007 South Mississippi Science and Mathematics
Partnership Program which was funded through the Mississippi Department of Education and the U.S. Department of
Education. From 2003 through 2010, Henry was PI or Co-PI for grants totaling approximately $1.3 million. Henry and
Marycarolan are the proud parents of two daughters, Carrie Lynn Henry and Anita Kay Henry. They also are the proud
grandparents of Carrie’s daughter, Abby Lynn Viet, and Anita’s daughter, Marin Hazel Henry. Mary received a master’s
degree from Old Dominion University (ODU) and served as a financial aid counselor at ODU and Kent State University.
The Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Students of M. Henry include:
K. Wiggins, dissertation entitled, Applications of Approximation Theory to Initial Value Problems, 1974.
J. Henry, post-doctoral research in algorithms for polynomial and rational multi-variate approximations, 1975. Co-author
(with M. Henry and D. C. Taylor) of An application of Robert's minimal degree algorithm to initial value problems, Int. J.
Num. Meth. Engng., 12 (1978), 1347‑1358.
D. Schmidt, dissertation entitled, Linear and Nonlinear Product Approximation, 1976.
L. Huff, dissertation entitled, Product Methods for Linear Multivariate Approximation, 1978.
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
Page 7
SIAM STUDENT CHAPTER NEWS
On April 26th, the CSU student SIAM chapter went on a field trip to visit the Google offices in Boulder. Students
were able to tour the facility as well as speak to active researchers. Amy Ho, an employee of Google, took the
chapter on a tour of the facility. Keeping employees happy is a key feature of the Google life, and thus, their facilities are full of activities such as a rock climbing wall, ping pong, shuffle board, a relaxation and massage room,
and plenty of food stations. The lively and creative atmosphere at the facility as well as the strong work ethic of
employees is apparent. The SIAM chapter was treated to lunch in the Google cafeteria. As one of their many
employee perks, all employees may eat in the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and snacks available throughout the
day, at no cost to them.
Following lunch, a presentation about the culture and impact of Google as well as career opportunities was
given. A panel of ‘Googlers’ in various career stages--Rob Judd, Mike Goss, and Guy Cobb—described projects that
they had each worked on, hiring practices of Google, and a question and answer session between the attendees
and researchers.
The event was sponsored by the CSU SIAM Chapter and Google, covering transportation, lunch, and the tour.
The participants from Colorado State included 20 graduate students in applied mathematics, pure mathematics,
and chemistry.
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providing them the best tools to perform cutting-edge research to solve some of the world's most devastating problems. As a
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