Continuum NEWSLETTER • 2009
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Michigan Department of Mathematics ContinuUM NEWSLETTER • 2009 View from the Chair's Office - Fulton Named Distinguished Mel Hochster University Professor This has been an exciting year Professor William Fulton has for the Department, and certainly been named the Oscar Zariski Dis- for me as Chair. We hired six new tinguished University Professor of faculty members: Assistant Profes- Mathematics. Appointment to a sor Dmitriy Boyarchenko (repre- Distinguished University Profes- sentation theory), and Associate sorship is one of the highest hon- Professors Thomas Lam (combi- ors conferred by the University natorics), Kartik Prasanna (number upon a faculty member. Math- theory), and Michael Zieve (algebra ematics faculty members Hyman and number theory) are already Bass, Mel Hochster and Professor here, while Associate Professor Da- Emeritus Fred Gehring previously vid Speyer (tropical geometry) and Professor Mark Rudelson received this recognition. (analysis) will arrive in 2010-11. New faculty are profiled on Fulton received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton page 4. Daniel Forger was promoted to the rank of Associate University in 1966 and came to U-M in 1998 following a dis- Professor with tenure, and Stephen DeBacker, Harm Derksen, tinguished career at Brown University (1970-87) and the Uni- and Mattias Jonsson to the rank of Professor. See page 3 for versity of Chicago (1987-98). He was appointed as the first more faculty highlights. M.S. Keeler Professor of Mathematics. Fulton was elected to We mourn the loss of our longtime friend and colleague, the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, and to the Ameri- Professor Emeritus George Piranian (p. 16). He will be long can Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998. In 2000 he was remembered. named a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Al Taylor retired this year after many years of service to Sciences. These the Department, including two three year terms as Chair. He are honors that go Inside will be greatly missed, but I am hoping and expecting that he only to the very top will still be around the Department a great deal. Dee Huddock tier of mathemati- View from the Chair's Office 1 and Rosemarie Aris retired from our staff this year, and I wish cians in the world. Fulton Professorship 1 them the best while at the same time wonder how we will sur- Although his External Review 2 vive without them. interests are very Faculty News 3 The Regents have awarded Bill Fulton the Oscar Zariski broad, most of New Faculty 4 Distinguished University Professorship in Mathematics, and Fulton’s work has Al Taylor Retires 5 Karen Smith became the new M. S. Keeler Chair in Math- been in the field of Calculus Concept Inventory 6-7 algebraic geom- ematics, the position formerly held by Bill. Graduate Program News 8-10 etry (the study of An external review of the Mathematics Department was geometric proper- Undergraduate Program 11-12 conducted during the third week in March by a Committee ties of solutions Actuarial Program News 13 consisting of Michael Artin, Rob Calderbank, Herb Clemens, of polynomial Donors 14 George Papanicolaou and Karen Uhlenbeck. Their assessment equations) and Alumni News 15 of the Department was very positive—here is the first para- neighboring areas. In Memoriam 16 graph of the report: Since a great many Development Highlights 17 “The quality of the Mathematics faculty is outstanding, of the most impor- Math T-shirts 18 and the Department is the center of a vibrant mathematical tant problems in Alumni Reply Form 19 community. The great variety of advanced courses makes mathematics and continued on page 2 continued on page 5 UM-DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS CONTINUUM – 2009 External Review View from the Chair’s Office (continued from page 1) This year the Department was aged the Department to continue hiring Michigan attractive to graduate students fortunate to have an external review in the applied mathematics programs, and potential faculty.” During the Fall done by several outside experts in the with particular emphasis on developing Semester there will be a dialogue be- field. Departments at major universities joint appointments with other disciplines tween the Department and the College regularly undergo review by peers to such as business, engineering, educa- concerning the results of the External provide feedback on current operations, tion, and statistics. The committee cited Review (see article on page 2). corroboration on successes, and advice that the large number of term assistant The Department’s interactive meth- for possible improvements. professors—or postdoctoral faculty— od of teaching calculus in Math 115 did The review committee consisted of contribute greatly to the dynamic atmo- impressively well in a multi-institution Chair Robert Calderbank (Princeton), sphere of the Department. These term assessment made using a new Calculus Michael Artin (M.I.T.), Herbert Cle- professors are an integral part of the Concept Inventory examination that mens (Ohio State), George Papanico- instructional core, and contribute to the tests the students at the beginning and laou (Stanford), and Karen Uhlenbeck vibrant research environment. end of the course in order to factor out (Texas). Their three day visit in March, Once again the Michigan Calculus the effect of prior background in the 2009, included meetings in the Depart- program was cited as a major strength subject (see pages 6-7). ment with all levels of faculty, as well of the Department (see page 6 for more The Department is still planning to as graduate and undergraduate students. information). The committee felt that make space available on its website for The committee also met with deans and the program could be enhanced if more former and current students, faculty, associate deans in the College of Litera- senior faculty were involved in both visiting scholars, and staff, as well as ture, Science and the Arts and the Rack- the Introductory Calculus training pro- their families to provide contact and ham Graduate School. Their findings gram and the Inquiry Based Learning brief biographical information. If you were presented in an extensive report to initiative. The committee recognized return the form on page 19 we will be in College and Department administration. the striking increase in undergraduate touch with you about this. Once this is The committee referred to the math majors—from 125 in 2000 to 345 started, information about how to par- Department as the center of a vibrant currently. Approximately 50% of the ticipate will be available on our website. mathematical community. It praised the majors are in the Actuarial/Financial track. The committee was impressed by Everyone knows that economic active success of the applied mathemat- times are hard, and the State of Michi- ics research and interdisciplinary activi- the Actuarial program’s longevity and its established network of alumni, as well as gan has serious problems. The Univer- ties. The introductory Calculus program sity of Michigan has fared reasonably and the Inquiry Based Learning project connections with insurance and pension companies. well under these circumstances, partly were recognized as being outstanding because, increasingly, much of the gen- components of the curriculum. The The graduate program was cited as eral fund comes from tuition rather than committee felt that U-M’s commitment having a high completion rate and a low from state appropriations, and partly to mathematics education distinguished average time to degree. The committee because income from endowment is av- it among the top tier mathematics de- indicated that the number and variety of eraged over a seven year interval. None- partments. graduate courses and seminars offered theless, there will likely be tough times Upon examining the composition is “almost unparalleled” at other institu- ahead, and the Provost has a three year of the faculty, the committee encour- tions. The satisfaction of the graduate plan that will involve taking a close students with their education, as well as look at all activities and deciding which the instructional training they received, ones are the most important to continue ContinuUM Editorial Board: is high relative to other U-M depart- if resources are very limited. This will Mel Hochster, Chair ments. The committee encouraged the Suzanne H. Rogers, Editor undoubtedly be a challenging time for Doreen Fussman Department to continue recruiting under- the University and the Department. Curtis E. Huntington represented minorities, and to partner Agnes Soderbeck, design with other units in recruiting activities. The Department is pleased to have Photos by UM Photo Services, the Department of Mathematics, or had the opportunity to showcase our suc- personally submitted by the subjects. cesses to experts in the field. The useful feedback will be considered by the De- University of Michigan, Department of Mathematics, partment and College when developing 530 Church Street, 2074 East Hall, See more news on our website Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043; future goals. math.mich@umich.edu; fax 734-763-0937; www.math.lsa.umich.edu www.math.lsa.umich.edu/alumni/ 2 CONTINUUM – 2009 Faculty Kudos Robert Megginson received the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Hyman Bass was recently elected to mathematician Paul Erdös, who died in Award for Distinguished Service to the National Academy of Education. He 1996. Mathematics from the Mathematical is one of ten education leaders elected to Association of America. The award is Joel Smoller received the George intended to be the most prestigious for membership this year for their pioneer- David Birkhoff Prize. The prize is ing efforts in educational research and service offered by the Association, and awarded jointly honors distinguished contributions to policy development. The National Acad- by AMS and emy of Education is an honorary society mathematics and mathematical educa- SIAM once ev- tion. that currently has 174 members, who ery three years are elected on the basis of outstanding for an outstand- Actuarial Program Director, Curtis scholarship or contributions to educa- ing contribu- Huntington, is featured in an article in tion.