CORNELL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS ANNUAL REPORT 2004–2005 The Department of Mathematics at Cornell University is known throughout the world for its distinguished faculty and stimulating mathematical atmosphere. There are close to 40 tenured and tenure-track faculty — representing a broad spectrum of current mathematical research — a lively group of postdoctoral fellows and frequent research and teaching visitors. The graduate program includes over 70 graduate students from many different countries. The undergraduate program includes several math major programs, and the department offers a wide selection of courses for all types of users of mathematics. The Cornell Mathematics Department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, one of the endowed (or private) units of Cornell, which includes 50 departments and programs in the humanities, social sciences, and the physical and natural sciences. There are approximately 19,500 students at Cornell, of which nearly 14,000 are undergraduates. Cornell University is situated on a hill between two spectacular gorges that run down to Cayuga Lake in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York state. After 110 years in White Hall, the department moved to newly renovated Malott Hall, in the center of the Cornell campus. Renovation of Malott Hall was completed in 1999 to the specifications of the department. Its amenities include a spacious Mathematics Library, which houses one of the most extensive mathematics collections in the country, seminar rooms, classrooms and lecture rooms of all sizes, state-of-the-art computer facilities, and a large lounge with comfortable furniture and wall-to-wall blackboards. Department Chair: Prof. Kenneth Brown Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS): Prof. Allen Hatcher Director of Graduate Studies (DGS): Prof. Michael Stillman Director of Teaching Assistant Programs: Dr. Maria Terrell Administrative Manager: Colette Walls Department of Mathematics, 310 Malott Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4201 Phone: (607) 255-4013 • Fax: (607) 255-7149 • email: [email protected] August 2, 2005 Dear friends and colleagues, Cornell’s faculty is its most important resource. We are very fortunate to have a distinguished faculty in the Mathematics Department (see the list of recent awards on p. 1), and my highest priority as department chair is to do whatever I can to keep it that way. For this reason, the main thing I want to talk about in this letter is the state of our faculty, especially our hiring efforts. In last year’s annual report, I mentioned the tragic death of José (Chepe) Escobar in January 2004, at the age of 49. This was a great personal loss to those who were close to him. In addition, the loss of Chepe left a big hole in our department. Chepe’s area of research was geometric analysis, in which methods of calculus are applied to geometric problems. This area has become quite prominent recently because of the announced solution by Grigory Perelman of the celebrated Poincaré conjecture, using methods of geometric analysis. We tried very hard this year to hire a replacement for Chepe. We had an outstanding candidate, and we had the support of administrators at the highest level. Unfortunately, she ultimately turned down our offer. We will try again during the coming year. On the other hand, we were successful in recruiting a distinguished young logician, Greg Hjorth, who will be joining our faculty on January 1, 2006. Greg got his Ph.D. at Berkeley in 1993. He won the Sacks prize in 1994 for the best thesis in logic worldwide. After a postdoc at Caltech, Greg moved to UCLA, where he rose quickly, becoming a full professor in 2001. He won a Sloan Fellowship in 1997, was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1998 and, with his coauthor Alexander Kechris, won the Karp Prize in 2003. The Karp Prize is given every five years and is the major award in logic. We are delighted that Greg is joining our department. Our other hiring this year also went very well. We hired several new postdocs (non-tenure-track assistant professors), and we hired a new tenure-track assistant professor, Tara Holm. Tara’s area of research is symplectic geometry, and I expect her to interact with many of our existing faculty members. Her appointment started July 1, 2005, but she will take her first year on leave at the University of Connecticut. We look forward to having her here in Ithaca for the 2006–2007 academic year. In addition, we have a new associate professor, Yuri Berest, who was promoted on July 1, 2005. Yuri works in noncommutative algebraic geometry, an emerging area with close ties to mathematical physics. It is a pleasure to welcome Yuri to the tenured faculty. Cliff Earle retired on December 31, 2004, after 39 years in the department, including three as department chair. Cliff has had a distinguished career working in complex analysis, in which he has published over 70 papers so far. I suspect that retirement for him just means that he will be able to spend even more time on his research. Indeed, during the past 7 years when he’s been officially half time (on phased retirement), his research output has been better than ever. I wish him the best of luck in this new phase of his career, as professor emeritus. Eugene Dynkin is also entering a new phase of his long and distinguished career. As of July 1, 2005, he is tapering off to a half-time appointment. Again, we all wish him the best of luck. I also want to send best wishes to Administrative Manager Colette Walls, who is moving to the Department of Romance Studies (see p. 5). Colette has been invaluable to me during my three years as chair. I will miss her sound judgment and her mastery at managing the finances of this complicated department. Colette has been the leader of an outstanding staff; they play a vital role in helping the faculty carry out the teaching, research, and service missions of the department. Colette is being replaced by Bill Gilligan. Bill has been at Cornell since 1986 in various jobs related to finance and budget, and he has served as director of finance and budget for the Arts College for the past 5 years. Having worked closely with managers in departments across campus, Bill has a clear idea of the issues facing a large, complex department like ours. I look forward to working with him. I have to report some very sad news about an alumnus, Raju Chelluri, who graduated in 1999 and died tragically in August 2004 at the age of 26. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I would like to thank them on behalf of the department for generously endowing the Chelluri Lecture Series in Raju's honor (see p. 6). We expect the first Chelluri Lecture to take place in spring 2006. I initially signed on for a three-year term as department chair. I have found the job very rewarding, and I am grateful that my colleagues are giving me the opportunity to serve a fourth year. Dan Barbasch will take over as chair in July 2006. As far as I know, this is the first time we have ever had a “chair elect” a year in advance. Dan and I will work together in the coming year to ensure a smooth transition. I could not do this job without help from a large number of people. I’ve already mentioned the staff support. Many faculty members have also made enormous efforts on behalf of the department. I'd like to single out a few in particular: • Maria Terrell, senior lecturer and director of teaching assistant programs, is a constant source of new ideas. Some of her experimental teaching innovations are described on pp. 16–17. This year her efforts on behalf of our teaching program were recognized by the Arts College, which gave her a Russell Distinguished Teaching Award (p. 16). • Rick Durrett has completed his fifth year as VIGRE director. He worked extremely hard on our unsuccessful attempt to get a new 5-year VIGRE grant (see p. 7). He also ran the Math Explorer’s Club (p. 46), which he revitalized last year. Rick will continue to lead the way as we apply again for a new VIGRE grant this fall. • Allen Hatcher has completed his first year as director of undergraduate studies. He brings new ideas and energy to the job, and it has been a pleasure to work with him. • Mike Stillman has completed his third year as director of graduate studies. Mike works hard on behalf of our graduate program, and I am very happy to say that he has agreed to serve a fourth year. Finally, I would like to wish former Cornell President Jeff Lehman the best of luck in whatever comes next for him. Jeff is an alumnus of the department, having graduated as a math major in 1977. I was as shocked as everyone else when he announced his resignation on June 11, after only two years as president. I had high hopes for his presidency, and I appreciated his accessibility to the faculty. Whatever his disagreements with the Board of Trustees might have been, this loss of a president after two years is a sad situation for Cornell. Sincerely yours, Ken Brown Table of Contents AWARDS AND HONORS 1 MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT DIRECTORY 2004–2005 2 FACULTY, STAFF, AND GRADUATE STUDENT CHANGES FOR 2005–2006 4 GIFTS AND ENDOWMENTS 6 FACULTY RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES 7 Grants • VIGRE • The Jahrbuch Project • Faculty Editorships • 2004–2005 Faculty Publications TEACHING PROGRAM 13 Visiting Program • Summer Session 2004 Course Enrollment Statistics • Academic Year Course Enrollment Statistics • Teaching Awards • Writing Prize • Curriculum Changes • Instructional Technology Support • Mathematics Support Center