Continuum Newsletter of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan 2007 Bass Wins National View from the Medal of Science Chair's Offi Ce
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ContinuUM Newsletter of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan 2007 Bass Wins National View from the Medal of Science Chair's Offi ce University of Michigan Tony Bloch Mathematics and Educa- tion Professor Hyman Bass The 2006-2007 academic year was an received the nation’s highest eventful and exciting one for the Depart- science honor from President ment of Mathematics. The current quality George Bush during a July of the Department is refl ected in the range 27 ceremony at the White and scope of our activities: numerous House. A video of the cere- seminars, exciting colloquia, and interest- mony is available on the U-M ing conferences. During this past aca- website http://ummedia04. demic year we had 21 long-term visiting rs.itd.umich.edu/~nis/Bass. scholars, and more than 160 short-term mov. visitors. In addition our faculty members presented numerous lectures at exciting Bass was one of eight venues all over the U.S. and the world. National Medal of Science laureates honored. He is the Department members organized nu- Roger Lyndon Collegiate merous conferences on various subjects: Professor of Mathematics Algebraic Geometry, Financial Engineer- in the College of Literature, ing, Teichmueller Theory, and Scientifi c Science, and the Arts, and Computing. There was also the Canary Professor of Mathematics Fest, a series of workshops on Geometry Education in U-M's School of and Topology in celebration of Dick Ca- Education. and researcher in the College of Litera- nary’s 45th birthday. ture, Science, and the Arts working col- Bass is the fi rst U-M researcher to Our weekly colloquium series was laboratively with his colleagues in the very successful, featuring several distin- win the honor in 21 years. Five other School of Education to advance mathe- U-M researchers won the award between guished University of Michigan alumni, matical research and teaching skills,” said as well as fi ve Fields Medalists. 1974 and 1986 for their work in engi- LSA Dean Terrence J. McDonald. “We neering, biological sciences and physical are very pleased that his work is being We were fortunate to have had two sciences. Bass is the only U-M winner to recognized with the prestigious award.” excellent visiting lecture series last year: represent the fi elds of math and educa- Jerrold Marsden, the Carl F. Bruan Pro- tion. Bass said he was “very honored” by fessor of Control and Dynamical Systems the recognition. “My work in mathemat- The award citation for Bass states: at Caltech, gave the Ziwet Lectures in ics education, with Deborah Ball, Dean September 2006, on various topics in me- “For his fundamental contributions to of the School of Education, and her re- pure mathematics, especially in the cre- chanics including invariant manifolds and searchers, is focused on the problem of coherent structures, numerical integrators, ation of algebraic K-theory, his profound helping teachers provide quality mathe- infl uence on mathematics education, and and geodesic fl ows on fi nite- and infi nite- matics instruction for the full diversity of dimensional groups. Philip Holmes of his service to the mathematics research students in American classrooms,” Bass and education communities. With his Princeton University presented the Rain- said. “Working together we have focused ich lectures in November, on neural oscil- unique combination of gifts he has had on the mathematical demands at the ele- enormous impact over the course of a lators, stochastic dynamics, and optimal mentary level and what this implies about decisions. half century.” the mathematical knowledge needed for “Professor Bass’s work is a wonder- teaching.” continued on page 2 ful example of a gifted mathematician continued on page 2 Notes from the Chair member and as a dedicated teacher and Bass Medal of Honor (continued from page 1) tutor. After his retirement he continued (continued from page 1) his much appreciated work in the Math The 2007-08 academic year also Lab. We are very happy to honor him. After a 40 year career as a faculty promises to be exciting with upcoming We are sad to report that we lost member at Columbia University, Bass lecture series including those by Curtis two Professors Emeriti this year, Robert joined U-M in 1999. He was named a McMullen and Gang Tian, and a collo- Bartels, who made tremendous contribu- Collegiate Professor shortly after arriv- quium talk by Fields Medalist Vaughan tions to computing at Michigan, and Tom ing at Michigan. His research in algebra Jones, among others. Storer, who will be remembered as a most and geometric group theory has shaped We have a remarkable faculty who extraordinary teacher. We would like to the development of these areas in the continue to be recognized both internally remember them here (see page 12). last decades. Bass’s work has enormous and externally. During the 2007-08 aca- No report of the Mathematics Depart- breadth and includes ring theory, com- demic year, the math department has 68 ment is complete without a mention of mutative algebra, the Jacobian problem, regular tenured/tenure-track members, 5 our student body. This comprises 139 combinatorial group theory, as well non-tenure-track members, and 58 three- graduate students and approximately 340 as his foundational work in algebraic year post-graduate positions. One mea- math concentrators. In the fall 2006 term, K-theory. His recent mathematical re- sure of our excellence is that our faculty 7,119 students were enrolled in math search has emphasized geometric meth- members currently hold more than 141 courses. In the winter term 2007 there ods and group theory, including group federal grants for their research. Other were 5,211 such students. We graduated action on trees and the discrete sub- outstanding accomplishments by our fac- 133 undergraduate math majors in 2007, groups of Lie groups. Bass has received ulty are detailed within this newsletter. and 36 new Ph.D. and Masters gradu- much recognition for his mathematical contributions, including election to As a result of the strength of our ate students started their degrees in the fall of 2007. There are many outstanding membership in the National Academy of faculty, we face intense outside pres- Sciences in 1982. sure in the form of external recruitment. students, several of whom have won the We were sorry to lose members of our prizes which are awarded internally every Bass served a two-year term as number theory group. However I am year. One of our 2006 Ph.D. graduates, President of the American Mathematical happy to report that we were fortunate to Sam Payne, is currently a Clay Research Society from 2001-2003. He was in- retain many of our wonderful faculty in Fellow at Stanford. strumental in the formation and admin- the face of enticing external offers. On Of course, we are very grateful to istration of the Mathematical Sciences the recruitment front we are delighted to the valued alumni of our Department. Research Institute in Berkeley, CA. In welcome as new Assistant Professors in Our development and fund raising ef- recent years, Bass has taken a leadership the fall, Volker Elling, who works in par- forts have been successful thanks to the role in mathematics education, serving tial differential equations, and Victoria much appreciated generosity of our loyal as chair of the Mathematical Science Booth, who works in neuroscience and alumni. Our annual alumni fund-raising Education Board and president of the holds a joint appointment in Anesthesiol- letter consistently raises a much needed International Commission on Math In- ogy. $16,000 to $20,000. This year these struction, which is the educational coun- funds allowed us to provide scholarship terpart of the International Mathematical We are happy to welcome two dis- Union. tinguished Gehring Visiting Professors, support to 2 undergraduate students and Keith Ball from University College, summer support to 3 graduate students. The National Medal of Science, es- London and Blake Temple, from UC What the Department needs more than tablished in 1959, honors individuals for Davis. Joseph Marker has joined the anything else, at the moment, is endowed pioneering scientifi c research in a range Department as the Carl H. Fischer Visit- chairs. We would like to thank Susan of fi elds that enhance understanding of ing Professor in Actuarial and Financial Smith for her funding of an actuarial and the world and lead to innovations and Mathematics. fi nancial mathematics chair (sse page 16). technologies that give the United States its global economic edge. We are proud of our distinguished We continue our affi liation with the retired faculty and staff. Recently we Inquiry Based Learning program, a pro- were pleased to recognize Lee Zukowski gram which funds exciting new innova- at the Emeritus luncheon by dedicating tions in teaching, as detailed on page 10. a plaque for the Mathematics Learning We are extremely grateful to all who, Center (a.k.a. MathLab) in his honor. with their contributions, help to make our Lee served the Department wonderfully Department such an excellent place for for many years, both as a valued staff teaching, learning, and research. See more news of the University of Michigan Department of Mathematics on our website www.math.lsa.umich.edu 2 CONTINUUM – 2007 Mapping of E8 Professor of Mathematics The magnitude and John Stembridge is a member nature of the E8 calcula- of an international team of 18 tion invites the comparison mathematicians and computer with the Human Genome scientists who successfully Project, according to AIM. have mapped the Lie group The human genome, which E8, one of the largest and contains all the genetic in- most complicated structures formation of a cell, is less in mathematics.