3 Van Vleck V3: a newsletter for the space of alumni and friends of mathematics at UW–Madison Vector June 2017 (V ) SOLEDAD BENGURIA-ANDREWS

Associate Professor Brian Street in front of his Math 221 class.

Math 221 Gets a Redesign o you remember that first college course where you apart the traditional lecture format to provide students more walked in to find yourself with hundreds of other scared involvement in their own learning. This was the start of the Dfreshman students all staring with anticipation at a lone REACH (Redesigning for Active Learning in High-Enroll- professor on a stage? For many new UW students, their first ment Courses) program here at UW, part of the Educational college course is one of those giant courses needed for so Innovation (EI) Initiative. many prerequisites: Math 221. This is the first course of the Soledad Benguria-Andrews was called upon to act as the Calculus sequence, and it has been taught almost the same way Calculus Coordinator and as one of the instructors in this since the beginning of time. new way of doing things. Together with a team from the EI However, experiments with that status quo are underway. initiative, they looked closely at how things could be done Math 112 (Algebra) has been taught using an active teaching in a more interactive way. The questions of how to do small model for several years now. The model dictates that students group interactions in a lecture hall, or how to get students to review materials outside of class, then spend that precious hour take more responsibility for their own learning were carefully not listening to lecture and frantically taking notes, but actively considered. working out problems, and responding to the instructor and At first, Soledad had her doubts. “In Chile, the professor peers to increase understanding of the material. It has been talks and you listen, you take notes. I was raised and taught proven to produce better results in smaller classes, with lots that way. I was worried how this would work. I also wasn’t of desks and computers and teaching assistants to mill about, sure how students would respond to the emphasis we placed looking to help students with questions. on the student responsibility aspect.” The university looked at the success of these other classes, The students were told early on that this was a differ- then at these larger lecture classes like Math 221 and said, ent sort of class—it could mean 10 hours of work per week “Why not them?” True, a large lecture class doesn’t lend outside of lecture, and that they were responsible for their own itself to small group interactions, but there are ways to break Continued on page 5 A Word from the Chair “Why Math?”

CONTENTS students and faculty had great fun It is rare to have a math- as you’d think. There are lots of rules and lots of exceptions!’’ during “Saturday Science.” It is hard ematics major who is also in Indeed, transitioning to college can be tough, but for 2 A Word from the Chair not to smile when watching the faces her first year at UW–Madi- Isabel problems rarely do not have solutions: ``I really like of students trying to decipher the son, but Isabel Allen knew plants,’’ she says, ``and I really like gardens. But there are 3 “Why Math?” mathematics mysteries they encoun- right away what she wanted no gardens here in the winter. So I’ve been exploring green- 4 Alumni Profile tered during this intellectual mara- to study when she came to houses!’’ Isabel plans to stay around town for the summer. So campus this past year: ``I was now she will be able to enjoy reading in the Arboretum then 6 Women in Numbers at Wisconsin thon with 600 kids. And that’s not the only activity where our graduate the weird quiet math girl; among the cacti in Birge Hall. 10 Talent Search students shined: Notices of the Ameri- but it is the thing to do!’’ So why mathematics for Isabel? ``I’ve always enjoyed 11 Department Updates can Mathematical Society ran an AMS she exclaimed during her learning about how things work,’’ she says. This interest was seminar article featuring our group, interview. ``I took classes fostered by her parents, though perhaps not in the way they 12 Awards and students have been active on all here in high school, so I expected. ``My dad would make me read these awful physics 14 Faculty/Staff News fronts, including ensuring that our am familiar. But it still feels books,’’ she exclaimed with a wry grin. department is a welcoming, open, and different. I’m really enjoying In a typical undergraduate spotlight we would take some Once more the semester and the year supportive community for all. the freedom even though there are so many talks and events it time to discuss long term plans. But, like most first-year ends with all of its chaos, rush, and This year marked 10 years since can feel overwhelming.’’ students, the ``future’’ is a long way off for Isabel. ``I’m kinda excitement as we try to finish our our last review and the College While she may feel overwhelmed, her actions don’t show living in the moment right now. But I am looking forward MAKE A GIFT tasks, and graduating students reflect again evaluated our performance. it. In her first year Isabel waded right into everything our to a potential research opportunity in the department. I’m To mail a donation to support the on their experiences in Madison. It We passed the test with flying colors, department and university has to offer. She found support by excited about narrowing my focus, but worried about missing Mathematics Department, include is my favorite (and most exhausting) and a main factor in our success is joining the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) learn- out on cool stuff in other areas.’’ This last comment struck the designation “Mathematics Annual part of the year, and having a most our junior faculty. They have been ing community, worked with Dane Morgan in his research a chord with me. I recall feeling the same thing. Not as an Fund” in the check’s memo line. The beautiful spring truly helps! Every steadily progressing into tenure and lab, and jumped right into advanced undergraduate math 18-year-old freshman but as a 25-year-old graduate student! check should be made payable to the year the arrival of the new season sweeping up awards: seven Sloan and courses. ``Analysis was intense, but really great.’’ On the other So perhaps Isabel is rather unlike the typical freshman student. UW Foundation. feels like an unexpected miracle. seven CAREER awards in the last hand, not everything went smoothly for the first year major: And perhaps that is what makes her future bright, even if she ``Chemistry was really rough, man. It doesn’t seem to follow is not thinking about it. n Please send it to: This new issue of V^3 brings 5–6 years—what a fantastic showing! UW Foundation news and stories to provide a sense of Despite the struggles of recent years, U.S. Bank Lockbox what’s happened in Van Vleck Hall we are in a good place, thanks to the P.O. Box 78807 over the past year, and to highlight enthusiastic effort of our people, and Math Department Completes its 10-year review Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807 some of the members of our Math in no small part to the support of our Department family. alumni and friends who have kept This year the Math Department undertook its 10-year pro- from service classes, both our graduate and undergraduate To make a secure gift online using your Female faculty members in the our backs during these rocky times. gram review. Our review provides a time for program faculty to programs are also growing fast. Our faculty and academic credit card, please visit department have been getting a lot of We continue to fire on all cylinders, analyze the quality of academic programs, to affirm ways that staff are involved in several teaching initiatives, including http://supportuw.org/giveto/math. attention: our department has one of creating a climate of pride, accom- the program is working well, and to implement improvements, the successful revamping of the Calculus lectures into active the highest percentages of female fac- plishment, and ambition. It cannot if needed. learning classes (in collaboration with REACH) and the If you have any questions or would like ulty among top research departments in be done without your support. This information is used for reports to the Dean, the transformation of pre-Calculus classes at WisCEL. The excel- information on other giving options, the nation—over 20% this coming fall! I am grateful to head this vibrant University Academic Planning Council (UAPC), and the lence of our teachers has been recognized with two campus- please contact Rebekah Sherman The College of Letters & Science ran a and forward-looking department, Board of Regents, and meets a requirement for institutional wide teaching awards to our faculty in the last four years. at (608) 572-2077 or story, picked up by campus in the “In- where so many ideas—mathemati- accreditation. We are proud of the submitted report and wish • We also run multiple outreach programs and initiatives reach- [email protected]. side UW” newsletter, and we include cal and otherwise—are created. It is to highlight some items from it. ing all the corners of the state: our statewide talent search some of the highlights in these pages. my third year as Chair, and the end seeks to identify mathematical talent in the state; the Math n We remain at the forefront of of my rotation, but I have agreed to • The number of mathematics majors has more than doubled Circle holds multiple public lectures per semester aimed at innovation in teaching: the REACH extend it a little further. I am looking since 2007, with a parallel increase in degrees granted. In the middle and high school students and their families, with program is an ambitious attempt— forward to another incredible year last decade, we have instituted a certificate degree that has plans to expand with visits to local high schools; our “Girls Van Vleck Vector (V3) was printed funded by the Office of the Pro- working with this very special group. gone from a dozen students to more than a hundred. Math Night Out!” brings groups of high school young using gifts from alumni and friends. vost—to redesign what it means Please, do come and visit, enjoy our • We have one of the largest graduate programs among our women to campus to work on research-style projects with to have an active learning Calculus newly remodeled lounge, or simply Department of Mathematics peers: 131 PhD students, who graduate within an average of graduate student mentors; and more. University of Wisconsin–Madison lecture, even when the room holds drop us a note telling us how you are 5.7 years. Students go on to prestigious postdoctoral posi- • We are the youngest department among our peers, with 215 Van Vleck Hall, 480 Lincoln Drive 275 students! Our REACH team has doing. We are always so very happy tions, teaching faculty jobs, and positions in industry. A re- almost half of our professors being 40 years old or younger, Madison, WI 53706 done an amazing job, enriching the to hear from you. cent exit survey showed a high degree of satisfaction among and only three professors 60 or above. This results in a Chair: Gloria Mari-Beffa learning experience of our students our graduate students. vibrant research and teaching atmosphere, with new initia- and opening the door to what future On, Wisconsin! • We teach over 10% of all credit hours in the College of Let- tives and collaborations sprouting every year. Our faculty math.wisc.edu • (608) 263-3054 classes may be like. ters & Science, and climbing—more than the entire School are among the best in the world, as recognized by the many We continue to reach out to Gloria Mari-Beffa of Business and almost 75% of the entire College of Engi- awards and accolades they receive every year, bringing in those outside the university: our Department Chair neering. Although a large portion of the increase has come almost $6M in research awards. n

2 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 3 Alumni Profile Math 221 continued Is there a particular reason you chose What advice would you give to a engagement and success. This messaging is outside of the typi- on techniques TAs could use in any presentation, including to major in mathematics? Looking current math major who is ponder- cal syllabus expectations; it is a more explicit statement of how how to communicate effectively even if English was a second back, would you have majored in ing going into a non-academic career to balance the coursework, how to manage time, how lecture language. There is even a future planned “improv” style train- math again? field, such as business or medicine? engagement would work, and how students could learn self- ing to help with being comfortable while presenting. These are I would definitely choose to major in I remember being a little worried during awareness about their own understanding or lack thereof. skills that will serve TAs far past their time in the classroom. mathematics if given the opportunity my first year of medical school, because Together with two other instructors (Brian Street and Shirin Malekpour, Alex Hanhart, Joe Miller, and Soledad to revisit my college options. But, I the only other math major in my class Simon Marshall), Soledad worked to make lectures engaging Benguria-Andrews developed online content for the course, would go at things a little differently. I dropped out. I also remember my father with two colors of paper, orange and yellow. The instructor with the collaboration of Kathy O’Connell and her colleague, have always enjoyed math and found it questioning what I was going to do with might ask if a limit exists in a particular problem, and ask the Mark Neufeld, also an academic technologist with DoIT. 24 stimulating. It’s a game, a language and “all that math.” students to vote with the paper. Or they might do an activity modules were developed to “pre-teach” concepts before the a mystery all rolled into one. Since I’ve My advice to a current math major called think-pair-share, where students work out a problem class, and then test for understanding post-class, even taking always been pretty tight with my money, would be to not confuse selection of on their own, then pair up with a neighbor and review their the place of a traditional syllabus to emphasize the need for I was delighted to feel that my avoca- a major with defining yourself more results. The orange paper might be used to report a differ- real commitment to the course. The online course manage- tion was a legitimate use of tuition. narrowly. Education is a process and a ent result than their neighbor, while a yellow paper might be ment system was intended to be a one-stop shop for all stu- That being said, I knew I would never major is an area of deeper exploration used to indicate similar results. That way, the issue of a wrong dents; a place where they could go to get their assignments, as be “a mathematician” since I never felt and reflection. Choosing not to make answer was less about being the only one in a crowd and more well as communications with their instructors and TAs, and a able to create or consistently innovate a major your career is not failure or a about how different people approach problems differently. glimpse into exactly what was happening at any given moment with math. Selecting math as my major waste of effort nor is it a rejection of the Simon Marshall was excited by this new approach. “(It) throughout the semester. was actually a decision born out of Nancy McKinley, MD mentors and peers in that field. worked pretty well. It was nice to get down off the podium Another significant change, spearheaded by O’Connell expediency at the time. I had always and talk to students during class, and the TAs and I together and Neufeld, was to offer iPad Pros to the instructors to use taken math courses as a big part of my curriculum. When I Students are flocking to get STEM degrees, foreseeing could cover a lot of students. The flash card feedback worked, in their classes. In doing so, they could face the class and see began considering going to medical school, I found that my great demand for science and mathematics in industry. though it sometimes took a little bit of cajoling to get a re- the expressions on the students faces instead of working at accumulated credits permitted me to fulfill all the necessary What other skills or lessons do you think today’s students sponse from the full class. I lectured using an iPad, which was the blackboard with their back to the students. After the class, requirements and still graduate after four years. should consider developing in order to succeed not just in a much easier to see in Humanities 3650 than the blackboard, the iPad Pro notes could be uploaded to the course site so career, but in life? and allowed me to post the lecture notes online after class, students could go back and review any concepts that were Was there a class or instructor that you particularly en- This question really strikes a chord with me. I still subscribe to which the students found useful.” unclear. Besides using them for notes and graphing, instructors joyed during your time in Madison? universities being a place to explore, to learn how to learn, to The improvements didn’t stop at the classroom. Shirin could pull up the course site during class, link to external sites, I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to take grow as a person, to encounter diversity and alternatives and— Malekpour, Director of the Math’s Department’s Instructional or do additional demos or animations. Topology with Mary Ellen Rudin. She made so much sense yes—to have fun. I fear there has been a trend to view a degree Excellence Program (IEP), has been working to improve All of this attention to detail won over the instructors. and was so approachable for us undergrads despite being such as job training or “an ends” and not “a means.” Teaching Assistant training for a while, but the REACH Pro- Benguria-Andrews calls the experience an eye-opener. Stu- a rock star in the field. Topology reminds me ofAlice Through During college, I remember asking a prominent individual gram gave renewed emphasis on ways to apply teaching skills dents, when told that a particular concept would not be on an the Looking Glass, with how things change and how they stay how I could best prepare myself for a career in sports. I felt to new graduate students. She says, “The REACH program exam, still wrestled with the concept and asked questions, try- the same. Dr. Rudin was an excellent guide through that insulted when the response was to learn how to type. Ironically, helped us emphasize the active learning in the classroom in ing to understand it. This illustrates that the interest in learn- world. She did not suffer fools, and it was refreshing to see a now that I am an orthopedic surgeon with a sports medicine in- the discussion sections. One of the first things we did was hire ing has lead to better performances and better engagement. successful woman who did not apologize for that success. terest, I spend a great deal of time using a keyboard for research TA Coordinators, who were already familiar with the content Malekpour notes that there was not a single complaint about Combinatorics was a highlight, simply because it em- and documentation! The upshot for me is to listen as much as and how to teach it, to prepare materials for new TAs teaching TA teaching in the discussion section, a clear improvement bodies my love of puzzles. My professor had the most beau- possible because I never know what might come in handy—ei- Math 221. They also were ready to serve as mentors for new over previous years. Simon Marshall found the experience an tiful handwriting. I remember that he was clearly delighted ther for my work or in relating to others. graduate students so they could best engage with their stu- improvement over teaching other classes of similar size, and and generous with praise when I came up with a novel proof dents.” This process was well served by the REACH program will be working to incorporate similar in-class activities in his that he hadn’t considered. I will never forget that enthusiasm The Wisconsin Idea has been around for a long time, and the support of the Math Department Chair, Gloria Mari- teaching in the future. and support. emphasizing the connection that the University has to its Beffa. “Gloria was really a champion to make this happen. Her A student evaluation comment illustrates how students community, and the state. Can you talk about what the support helped us devote resources and obtain the expertise bought into the new structure: How do you feel your instruction in math has helped Wisconsin Idea means to you? we needed,” Malekpour continued. “The lectures are well-planned and organized with a pat- you in your current job path? I am amazed that The Wisconsin Idea has become controver- That expertise came from Kathy O’Connell, an Instruc- tern of introducing a topic, giving examples, and present- Math has definitely helped me in my medical career. As a sial. Perhaps I’m naïve in that opinion. While I do recognize tional Technologist with the Division of Information Technol- ing exercises for students to try applying new concepts. surgeon, I found that my ability to visualize in three dimen- that there needs to be accountability, I can’t fathom where else ogy (DoIT). Kathy brought the educational pedagogy needed Using different colored cards to hold up in class whether sions came more easily. I can usually think things through in society is going to obtain innovation, expertise, and test ideas. to analyze the problems and how to tackle them. She’d suggest students got the same or different answers than peers is an a logical progression, but still have the flexibility to switch The outreach of the University and the Extension service per- strategies to implement, and then help adjust the approach to effective way of gauging students’ understanding during paths when circumstances or my patient’s needs warrant. I’m mits access to those resources, allowing rural and low-volume fix problems. Malekpour calls O’Connell a “cheerleader” who lecture.” able to see trends and patterns. Medicine has attempted to areas to both contribute to and benefit from that knowledge helped convince the doubting instructors about the value of this Students attended lecture more consistently as well, with become more quantifiable and “evidence based” during my base. In medicine, we are now constrained by benchmark pro- approach. “She brought a different perspective, making sure we 80–85% attending instead of 55–70% in previous years. career, and my math background permits me to interpret ductivity and the obligation to adhere to usual and customary kept our eyes on the ball and did not lose interest.” Analysis of the after/effects is ongoing, but the instructors research more easily. practices. We need the academic centers to be cutting edge and The emphasis on TA training also involved workshops are sold on this new method of teaching a very old class. n open to disseminating skills, as well as provide an avenue of last resort for difficult or unusual problems.n

4 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 5 Women in Numbers at Wisconsin

he Mathematics Department is setting a shining ex- UW–Madison will get to experience many female professors. houses our TA training program. She has built this program ample nationally for its female faculty presence. Starting Also when there are only one or two women in a department Qin Li (Assistant Professor) from scratch with assistance from a few colleagues and gradu- T fall 2017, the department will have eleven women on it’s easy for a student to say, ‘I’m not like her so maybe I don’t As a child, Qin Li was told that girls would ate students over the past four years, and it has become a the faculty, making up roughly twenty percent of the faculty. belong,’ but all of us are so different that I’d like to think find it more and more difficult to keep high model for other TA training programs in the College of Let- This the highest proportion of women in the department’s there’s a role model for everyone.” grades in math and physics as they proceeded ters and Science. Malekpour is an integral part of calculus and history, and one of the best among all premier research de- Dymarz completed her undergraduate degree at the to higher education. She found that this was education at Wisconsin, teaching and training teachers, and partments nationwide. University of Alberta, and did her PhD work at the University not the case, that mathematics suited her nat- redesigning pre-calculus and calculus. The women are Tullia Dymarz, Mihaela Ifrim, Autumn of Chicago under the supervision of Benson Farb. After time urally, and she enjoyed her successes despite She summarizes well her experience here and the depart- Kent, Qin Li, Gloria Mari-Beffa, Julie Mitchell, Leslie Smith, at MSRI and postdocs at Yale and the Université Paris Sud discouragement. For Li, the large number of women at Wiscon- ment climate: “I greatly appreciate the opportunities that I Mariya Soskova, Betsy Stovall, Lu Wang, and Melanie Match- (Orsay), she joined us as an Assistant Professor in 2011. She sin is a welcome change from the loneliness of departments with have been given by the department to pursue my passions. ett Wood. holds an NSF CAREER award. Her student Carolyn Abbott few to no women. Here there is always someone to talk to. The department has always been open to the new ideas Their presence in such numbers gives our students visible will be joining the department at the University of California She completed her undergraduate studies in Tsinghua Uni- I’ve brought them, allowing experimentation and adapting proof of women succeeding in math and science. They are at Berkeley as a postdoc in the fall. versity in math and physics, received her PhD at UW–Madison what was shown to work. Friendships I have formed at work world class scholars and share an impressive number of awards, Dymarz works in geometric group theory, a subject that under the direction of Shi Jin, and was a postdoctoral scholar and the support network are priceless. I certainly enjoy the fellowships, and grants. To give just a small sample: four of studies algebraic objects by equipping them with geometric at Cal Tech before returning here as an Assistant Professor friendship of my women colleagues in the department and them hold NSF CAREER awards, one of the most prestigious structures which can be examined using the tools of geom- in 2015. She has received many honors and awards for her appreciate their contributions to creating a more inclusive research grants given by the National Science Foundation; two etry and then translated back into the language of algebra. research and her teaching. environment. However, our students, both graduate and of them hold Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships, prestigious Her work lies in a particularly difficult area of this subject, Li works in applied mathematics, quite literally applying undergraduate, benefit the most from the high number of fellowships awarded each year by the Sloan Foundation; one concerned with large scale classification theorems and ties to mathematics to industry. She studies the kinetic theory for gas women in the department. High representation of women in has held a von Neumann fellowship, a one-year fellowship analytic problems. Of her work she tells us, “I love this field dynamics, using equations to characterize the interaction of the department can serve as a reminder that women belong awarded by the Institute for Advanced Study; and all together because it combines ideas and techniques from many areas gas particles interacting with each other and their surrounding in the STEM areas and they are just as successful as men. The they have brought in millions of dollars of federal grant fund- of mathematics, and at the end of the day I have a beautiful media. This is particularly important in industrial design involv- sense of belonging and seeing yourself represented matters.” ing to Wisconsin throughout their tenure here. picture (albeit in my head) of a wild geometry quite different ing gases including airfoil design (what shape allows the best In addition to the research faculty, our department is kept from the one we live in.” flow) and rocket propulsion (what kind of gas enhanced by how Sara Nagreen (IT Coordinator) running with the help of many women on the regular and aca- much electric field gives the airspace the most efficient propul- Sara Nagreen is the department’s IT coordi- demic staff. Joan Wendt is the Chair’s secretary, and Sharon Autumn Kent (Associate Professor) sion). nator, having taken over the position in Paulson runs the Copy Center, manages textbooks, and helps Autumn Kent was interested primarily in 2012 when Yvonne Nagel retired. Before with travel. Nibedita Pattnaik keeps the timetable in shape, art and literature when she was young, and Shirin Malekpour (Faculty Associate) joining us, she worked with Learning Sup- while Veneta Boyanova manages tricky travel arrangements for came to focus on mathematics much later, Shirin Malekpour did her undergraduate port Services for nearly fourteen years. She faculty and visitors. Kim Marston is our authority in Human only deciding on mathematics as a chosen studies at Pomona College, where she was describes this as a big change, and was her Resources, while Elena Ungur manages all of the goings-on subject in college. In fact she went to col- inspired and encouraged to pursue math first real taste at management. It was the “first time that I administratively. Sara Nagreen smoothes our integrations with lege planning to teach high school English, and education by the instruction of Shahriar started to consider all of the many activities where IT touched technology, and Kathie Brohaugh takes care of our graduate but found geometry and topology too beautiful to abandon. Shahriari (the winner of MAA’s 2015 Deb- mathematics instruction, administration, and research.” She students. Shirin Malekpour and Diane Rivard tackle the logis- Of the women here, she tells us, “The strong group of women orah and Franklin Tapper Haimo Award has handled this transition with ease and is masterful in her tics of undergraduate courses and training mathematics educa- in the department is invaluable to me as a source of mutual for Distinguished Teaching of Mathematics and a student of position. We would be remiss if we did not mention that, tors. Women are at the heart of the Mathematics Department support, and things would be difficult if there were fewer Marty Isaacs). “My interest in teacher education came about in addition to her IT work, she annually takes great pains in in all respects. women around. We give each other strength. A woman in the quite unexpectedly. About 10 years ago the department was bringing together this newsletter. We are lucky to have her. Read on for some brief sketches of many of these remark- Mathematics Department at Wisconsin has more freedom to short an instructor to teach one of the math 13x courses and Of her work in the department she says, “I work with the able women. be a strong voice than she would at many other institutions.” I volunteered to teach it—never having taught such a course! other IT staff to establish priorities, establish policies, and work Kent did her undergraduate work in mathematics and Teaching a course about geometry for future teachers for the out strategic directions for the future. This means thinking Tullia Dymarz (Associate Professor) literature at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, first time and interacting with my students showed me how about our server infrastructure, our workstation policies, our Tullia Dymarz says of her early mathematics and her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin under the important these courses are and how hard and tricky teaching project planning, as well as doing my part to help out in day- experience: “I always really enjoyed math in direction of Cameron Gordon. She held an NSF postdoctoral them can be.” She adds, “It sounds cheesy, but I truly believe to-day operations. I also play a role campuswide in making the school and my father encouraged this, too. fellowship and Tamarkin postdoctoral position at Brown Uni- the math content courses for future teachers are the most voice of math known in security, onboarding, human resource When it came time to fill out my university versity before coming to Wisconsin as an Assistant Professor in important courses we teach as a department.” IT, climate, and other governance groups. I recently completed application I didn’t hesitate; I signed up 2010. In the 2016-2017 academic year she was a von Neu- After her undergraduate studies, Malekpour completed IT Leadership training offered for a select number of IT profes- for the honors math program. I don’t ever mann Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, and holds an her PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park, under sionals campuswide. It was quite an honor to be chosen. I like remember making a ‘decision’ to study math it just seemed NSF CAREER award. Her student Balázs Strenner is a Hale the supervision of Michael Laskowski in 2005. Madison was being able to approach and chat with everyone in the Math De- like the obvious thing to do for me.” And of the benefit of our Visiting Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech. a big change from the Washington, DC, area, and it took a partment about IT, and I feel appreciated and challenged here.” strong female presence, “None of the math classes I took as Kent’s work touches on many areas of mathematics, few years for Malekpour to adjust and feel at home. “Having Nagreen describes well the significance of our strong an undergraduate or graduate student were ever taught by a bridging geometry, topology, algebra, and analysis, but is grown up in Tehran and lived in the DC area, I have a soft female presence: “I think there’s an appreciation of the tasks woman. I never really thought about the effect this had on me unified by an underlying presence of surfaces, their geometric spot for crowded and bustling metropolises.” that women must juggle and the struggles they have to be until I attended a workshop where one of the mini courses was structures, and their symmetries. She is particularly interested In addition to teaching and coordinating the Wisconsin heard. I think there is an understanding of our climate that taught by a confident and unabashedly feminine woman. I was in the interaction of algebra and geometry, and bridging di- Emerging Scholars program (WES), Malekpour directs the comes from talking to a woman colleague that you may not be impressed and inspired. It’s nice to know that the students at vides between seemingly disparate subject areas. department’s Instructional Excellence Program (IEP), which able to express to a male colleague.”

6 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 7 Women in numbers at Wisconsin continued

The IT support staff are an integral and invaluable part tions. This is relevant to biomedical applications, and it can held a postdoctoral position at UCLA, supported in part by Research Fellow as well as a Packard Fellow for Science and of the Mathematics Department at every level. As Nagreen also help us understand why our biological processes are an NSF postdoctoral fellowship. She joined the Mathematics Engineering. She has won the University of Wisconsin–Madi- puts it, “We offer so much to our faculty and staff that other slightly different than those in genetically related organisms.” Department at Wisconsin as an assistant professor in 2012. She son Vilas Early Career Investigator Award, an Association for institutions do not; we have developed resources for manage- is an NSF CAREER award holder. Women in Math-Microsoft Research Prize in Algebra and ment of research and administration that no one else has, and Diane Rivard (Faculty Associate) Stovall works in harmonic analysis, which aims to under- Number Theory, and holds an NSF CAREER grant. She’s we’ve worked to give flexibility to faculty and staff in their Diane Rivard is a faculty associate in the stand signals by decomposing them into simpler pieces, such as quite simply one of the most decorated of all of the faculty IT choices. I have heard from others in different institutions Mathematics Department, and has been with breaking a sound into its constituent notes or creating a 3-di- members in the Math Department. Her phenomenal record of about the level of our service being superior. I’m proud of our us since 1995. She worked part-time in the mensional sketch of a body using 1-dimensional snapshots like research, teaching, and outreach make her a star in the depart- work and our interactions with our clients.” Mathematics Tutorial Program from 1995 to a CT scan does. Stovall studies the role that “curvature” of the ment and a shining role model for all of us. 2011, teaching courses, and working as the set of pieces plays in problems like these, studying problems Wood works primarily in number theory and algebraic Julie Mitchell (Professor) placement advisor and consultant at SOAR connected to potential applications in engineering, physics, and geometry, but her work also draws from probability, addi- Julie Mitchell remembers being inclined to (Student Orientation and Registration). In 2011, she left the medical imaging. She tells us, “Historically, the decompositions tive combinatorics, random groups, and algebraic topology. math in the 4th grade. She tended to be the Tutorial Program and began full-time, teaching a course each and reconstructions in harmonic analysis were all fundamentally Moduli spaces are structures codifying the ways a particular best in the class. While not always getting semester, handling placement issues, and managing course linear, but it was discovered in the second half of the last century type of object may vary. That is, they are shapes that measure top marks, she saw concepts more quickly enrollment and wait lists. Rivard responds to placement ques- that curvature interacts with these processes in surprising ways.” families of shapes. In her PhD thesis, Wood found new explicit than others. She underscores the value of the tions from students, parents, and advisors via email and phone descriptions of certain moduli spaces for algebras and their women here, saying, “We think of growth and during office hours. She is the mathematics consultant Lu Wang (Assistant Professor) modules. These descriptions are useful in number theory when in female mathematicians as being linear, that as time goes on, for International and January SOAR, training and supervising Lu Wang was interested in literature before studying number fields, and in algebraic geometry for studying there are a few more and a few more. However, the reality is graduate students and staff at SOAR and at the Math Registra- reaching the sixth grade, when a devoted certain moduli spaces there. Motivated by questions of count- non-linear. The more women we have, the more women want tion Help Desk. The logistics of accommodating students and math teacher, also a woman, led her to the ing certain number theoretic objects, Wood has been develop- to join our ranks. Young women in our classes see role models TAs in calculus are largely due to Rivard’s dedicated work over great joy of solving challenging problems in ing tools in probability theory to study randomly arising finite for themselves, and they can envision becoming a mathemati- many years. mathematics. She finds the department a very groups, which she applies deftly and broadly to a wide range of cian themselves. Having a lot of women faculty also makes it As an instructor, she has taught mathematics for teachers, inclusive place to work, and finds encourage- problems in number theory and algebraic geometry. Her work easier to recruit new female faculty to the department.” intermediate algebra, college algebra, precalculus, quantita- ment and inspiration from the senior women in the department. is deep and far reaching. Mitchell pursued undergraduate studies at San José State tive reasoning, and fundamental mathematics skills. She has Wang did her undergraduate work at Peking University, University before completing her PhD at the University of been awarded the Honored Instructor Award from University and completed her PhD work at MIT under the supervision of California at Berkeley, where she studied dynamical systems and Housing several times. She has supervised TAs and mentors Tobias Colding. She held postdocs at the Mathematical Scienc- under the direction of Morris Hirsch. After them early in their tenure, running and participating in teach- es Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and Imperial completing her graduate work, Mitchell felt inclined to more ing workshops. She participates in a teaching circle, a group of College London before joining us as an Assistant Professor at applied and scientific work. “I looked around at many applica- postdocs, junior faculty, academic staff, and graduate students Wisconsin. She is an Alfred P. Sloan fellow. tions, from aerospace to semiconductors, not finding anything interested in discussing and enhancing their teaching. Wang’s research focuses on geometric flows, which follow that drew me in,” she says. “Chemistry was my other favor- In addition to all of this, Rivard has served the depart- the evolution of geometric objects under various geomet- ite subject as an undergrad, and so I asked a chemist if there ment and the university community via committee work in ric processes over time. Her work is particularly focused on were interesting problems for mathematicians to work on. She the department, campuswide, and on University of Wisconsin mean curvature and Ricci flows. The mean curvature flow is a pointed me toward protein structure, and I fell in love with the System committees. simplified model that describes crystal and grain growth and geometry of molecules. My postdoctoral work was at the San Rivard is retiring this year to Montreal, and the depart- the annealing process in metals. She studies the formation of Diego Supercomputer Center, where I developed algorithms for ment is indebted to her for years of dedicated service and singularities in these flows, the change in the topology of the studying molecular interactions based on Fast Fourier Trans- invaluable contribution to the department. evolving surfaces through the singularities, and related topics. forms and global optimization techniques.” She is now a profes- sor in both mathematics and biochemistry here at Wisconsin. Betsy Stovall (Assistant Professor) Melanie Matchett Wood (Professor) She describes her work as follows: “Molecular interactions Betsy Stovall became a mathematician by Melanie Matchett Wood became especially underlie all physiological processes, and mathematical tools reading novels. “At least that was how I interested in mathematics in the seventh can help predict how they associate. You can think of this as spent all of my free time in my childhood. At grade when, participating in a MathCounts being like assembling 3D puzzle pieces, where both shape and the beginning of college, I planned to major program, she encountered problems that physics/chemistry of the surfaces matter. Early in my career, in something that seemed a bit more logical she had not been taught to solve; this was I used global optimization methods to find minimum energy for someone who spent all of her free time the first real problem-solving she had en- states for two molecular structures bound together. We could reading, especially since I didn’t think I was particularly good countered. The women in the department help Wood feel that often find the minimum energy, but the energy function itself at math. I found myself procrastinating on the readings for my this is where she belongs, and she values having a large num- was too crude, and the answers were often in the wrong place. other courses so I could solve extra math and physics prob- ber of women role models for graduates and undergraduates. More recently, my students and I have used the tools of data lems.” Betsy is appreciative of having so many women as profes- Wood did undergraduate studies at Duke University science to study molecular interactions. Instead of an energy sional peers and is inspired by the work of her colleagues. and Cambridge University, completed her PhD under Man- function, we use a classification model that distinguishes cor- Stovall went to a small high school in rural Georgia, and a jul Bhargava, and was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford rect answers from incorrect ones. You can make many types of scholarship carried her to Emory University for her undergrad- University for two years before coming to Wisconsin as an classification models, and we particularly like to build models uate studies. She completed her PhD under the supervision of assistant professor in 2011. She was an American Institute of able to predict the effects of mutations on molecular interac- Michael Christ at the University of California at Berkeley, and Mathematics 5-year fellow, and is currently an Alfred P. Sloan

8 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 9 Alumni News Department Updates Haokai Xi (PhD, 2017, Advisor: Jun New Employees Yin) is a software engineer at Google. Daniele Cappelletti is John Wiltshire-Gor- Kim Marston recently Huanyu Wen (PhD, 2017, Advisor: a Van Vleck Assistant don is a Van Vleck joined the Math Jean-Luc Thiffeault) is a quantitative Professor. He gradu- Assistant Professor. He Department as the HR/ research associate at J.P. Morgan. ated from the Univer- graduated from the Payroll Coordinator, Carolyn Abbott (PhD, 2017, Advisor: sity of in University of Michigan coming from UW- Tullia Dymarz) will join UC-Berkeley as 2015. His speciality is in 2016. His speciality Extension and UW a postdoctoral fellow in fall 2017. stochastic reaction networks. is the representation theory of combina- Colleges. Her hometown is Wonewoc, (PhD, 2017, Advisor: torial categories. WI. She received her degree from Eric Ramos Alexander Pavlov is a Jordan Ellenberg) won a National Sci- UW–LaCrosse in Business Administration Van Vleck Assistant Rachel Davis is a new with an emphasis in Human Resources. ence Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow- Professor. He gradu- Lecturer. She received ship which he’ll use at the University of She enjoys water sports no matter the ated from the Univer- her PhD from UW– season, including ice fishing and boating. Michigan in fall 2017. sity of Toronto in Madison in 2013. Her Junda Sheng (MA, 2017, Advisor: Shi 2015. His speciality is advisory was Nigel Promotions Jin) will pursue her PhD at UC-Davis homological algebras and derived Boston. Her speciality Veneta Boyanova has starting fall 2017. categories. is number theory and algebraic topology. been working with the She’ll be taking over duties from Diane Yubin Zhang (MA, 2017, Advisor: Math Department for a Chanwoo Kim) is an intern at Lombarda Noah Schweber is an Rivard after her retirement. NSF Reseach Postdoc- year as the KI-Net China Fund Management Co., Ltd, in Travel Coordinator, Shanghai, China. toral Fellow. He Elena Ungur is our graduated from new Department and now she will be the Ahmet Kabalukak (PhD, 2017, Advi- UC-Berkeley in 2016. Administrator. Her Travel Coordinator for the entire sor: Andrei Caldararu) is a software His specialities are hometown is Brasov, department. Congratulations, Veneta! development engineer at Amazon. Logic and Computability/Set Theory. Romania. She studied Vlad Matei (PhD, 2017, Advisor: Jor- economics at the Retirement dan Ellenberg) will join UC-Irvine as a Nasar Talebizadeh Academy of Economic Studies in Diane Rivard, Faculty postdoctoral fellow in fall 2017. Sardari is a Van Vleck Bucharest, Romania. She received her Associate Meng-Che Ho (aka Turbo) (PhD, Keith Rush at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers Assistant Professor. He MBA in Strategic Management at Diane Rivard has been 2017, Advisor: Uri Andrews) will join graduated from UW–Madison. Her hobbies include with the Math Depart- (PhD, 2010, Advisor: ment (web.itu.edu.tr/ozugurlue). Purdue University as a Golomb Visiting Casian Pantea in reading, salsa dancing, ice skating, and ment since 1995. She Georghe Craciun) won a 2016–17 His last article was about brain tumor Assistant Professor in fall 2017. 2016. His speciality is photography. worked in the Math- Outstanding Researcher Award at West modeling, and he is now working with a number theory. ematics Tutorial program from 1995 Evangelos Dimou (PhD, 2016, Advi- Virginia University. Pantea, an assistant group with real data on this topic. Schol- to 2011, but took on additional duties sor: Andreas Seeger) is a lecturer at the professor in the Department of Math- ar Google Citations for Ersin Ozugurlu: in 2011, teaching pre-calculus courses, University of Michigan. ematics, examines mathematical analysis http://go.wisc.edu/l58j69. Alumni News continued handling placement issues, and manag- Keith Rush (PhD, 2016, Advisor: of interaction network models. He is William Arvola (PhD, 1991) passed ing SOAR, enrollment, and department Sergeui Denissov) is the senior man- specifically interested in structural prop- away on February 28, 2017. Bill was 2016–2017 Graduates waitlists. She trained graduate students to ager for data science in the Milwaukee erties of networks related to two impor- born April 12, 1962, in Sacramento, Carolyn Abbott (Advisor: Dymarz) Daniel Ross (Advisor: Ellenberg) counsel students seeking course changes Brewers organization. He is responsible tant phenomena: switch-like behavior California, to William and Mary Arvola. in the beginning of each semester and Meng-Che Ho (Advisor: Andrews) Keith Rush (Advisor: Denissov) for every projection of the business side and oscillations, both which underlie the Bill grew up in California and Oregon. managed the Calculus Course Exam, al- of the Brewers’ needs, such as ticketing cell cycle. Excelling in mathematics, he graduated Ahmet Kabakulak (Advisor: Caldararu) Paul Tveite (Advisor: J. Miller) lowing students to gain credits for passing estimates and revenue projections, as well Rohini Kumar (PhD, 2009, Advisor: from Oregon State University in three an exam to prove their knowledge. She Vlad Matei (Advisor: Ellenberg) Keija Wang (Advisor: Boston) as estimating, for example, customers’ Timo Seppäläinen) has been promoted years with a bachelor’s in Mathematics. was named Honored Instructor by Uni- propensity to purchase season tickets, etc. to associate professor with tenure at Continuing his mathematical work, he Yu Li (Advisor: Bing Wang) Kun-Chieh Wang (Advisor: Roch) versity Housing students several times. Gregory Datka (BS, 2016) is a client Wayne State University, effective fall earned a PhD in Mathematics from the In her retirement, Diane will return to Jeff Poskin (Advisor: Alberto Del Pia) Huanyu Wen (Advisor: Thiffeault) systems engineer at Epic Systems Corpo- 2017. University of Wisconsin–Madison, writ- Quebec and build a new house with her ration. Ersin Ozugurlu (PhD, 1999, Advisor: ing his dissertation in topology under Eric Ramos (Advisor: Ellenberg) Haokai Xi (Advisor: J. Yin) husband. (Diane is also profiled as part of Aaron Peterson (PhD, 2014, Advisors: Jean–Marc Vanden Broeck) became an Professor Peter Orlik in 1991. Arvola the Women in Math article on page 8 of Alex Nagel, Brian Street) is an assistant associate professor in mathematics in had been teaching part-time at Madison If you have alumni news, we’d love to hear about it! http://go.wisc.edu/9do819 this newsletter.) professor of instruction at Northwestern 2012 at Istanbul Technical University in College since the fall of 2012. Visit this link for a survey that collects alumni updates at all times of the year. University in Evanston, IL. the Mathematical Engineering Depart- Our Alumni Historical Ph.D. Database now includes recent thesis titles and is searchable by year. Check it out! http://go.wisc.edu/zx59c6

10 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 11 Undergraduate Student Awards Graduate Student Awards 2017 Violet Higgitt Frank Scholarship Twelve UW students took the Mathematics Students The department recognized several Thomas Hameister exam. Our Putnam team placed 28th Xinyu He: Margaret A. Goldman students for especially significant contri- (which is pretty close to the best we’ve Scholarship butions in research and for outstanding

Dowling Scholarship SARA NAGREEN done recently: we were 27th in 2013). Catherine McSorley: Gerald W. and performance as teaching assistants. Zhangpeng Zeng Congratulations to the three team Tui G. Hedstrom Scholarship Irman Newman Scholarship members: Daotong Ge, Thomas Konstantinos Papakostas: College of Excellence in Research Tom Stone Hameister, and Benjamin Bandli. For Letters & Science General Scholarship Awards the second year in a row, our top scorer Mary Ellen Rudin Scholarship Mathematics Students inducted in was Daotong Ge; this year he got into Yu Li is a student of Bing Wang working Anne Ulrich the National Honors Society, Phi Beta in geometry. In his thesis he generalized the top 100 nationwide with 56 points! Kappa David L. Young Scholarship (Which was also within one point of a technique of Perelman and Hamilton Rebekah Dix on the on three dimensional Kirill Gura earning an Honorable Mention.) Rachel Gruenke to non-compact asymptoti- Zachary Legge Undergraduate Honors cally Euclidean manifolds and provided a 2017 Undergraduate Math Tom Stone Ricci flow proof of the Schoen-Yau posi- Competition Several students have been honored Rose Walters tive mass theorem in three dimensions. with campus-wide scholarship awards. Fanghao Zhong In high dimensions he proved a strong First Prize Shouwei Hui, Hasan Eid Amir Alwan Applied Mathematics, Engineering and convergence result whenever the Ricci Lizzie Brown The following students received departmental awards for outstanding performance as 2nd Prize Physics Students flow exists globally. Xiaxin Li Erwin Chen Teaching Assistants, Front left: Micky Soule Steinberg, Polly Yu; Top left: Vladimir Sotirov, Idris Boukahil: David H. Durra Vefa Goksel, Hans Chaumont, James Brunner, Paul Tveite. Not pictured: Keith D’Souza, John 3rd Prize Daotong Ge, Thomas Thomas Hameister Tau Shean Lim, advised by Andrej Scholarship Lynch, Solly Parenti Hameister Michael Hermsen Zlatos, works in the area of reaction- Kevin Langhoff: Mary Schreiber Le- Evan Hernandez diffusion equations which model reactive to 1987. He was the founding director and dynamics of bodies with arbitrary Blanc & Duwayne LeBlanc Scholarship Noah Johnson processes such as combustion, chemi- of the new Center for Mathematical geometry, in background flows, and near 2016 Putnam Exam Jack Nuckles: Margaret E. and Allard Daniel Kaczmarek cal reactions, or population dynam- Sciences (CMS) from 1987 to 1990. surfaces. He applied his methods to ap- Smith Undergraduate Scholarship The exam was taken by 4,164 contes- Jacob Kettinger ics. Among other achievements, Lim His research interest initially focused on plications in gravitational sedimentation tants from 568 institutions last Decem- Calvin Kosmatka extended classical results of Aronson- Volterra integro-differential equations. and erosion by viscous stresses. ber. Nationwide, the median score was Gage Meyer Weinberger on propagation of reactions In later years, his interests changed to 1 out of 120, the top score was 114. Mackenzie Meyer in multidimensional homogeneous me- mathematical problems in viscoelasticity Elizabeth Hirschfelder Dylan Pozorski dia to models with non-local diffusion, and non-Newtonian fluid dynamics. The Scholarship and found a characterization of those John Nohel Prize in Applied Mathematics Elizabeth (Stafford) Hirschfelder (1902- non-local diffusion operators which give was established to honor his memory and Talent Search 2002) received a PhD in mathematics at rise to traveling fronts for ignition-type his good work with young people. The prize UW–Madison in 1930 and taught for Each year, the Math Department man- reactions. recognizes a graduate student who writes ages the Wisconsin Mathematics, En- almost twenty years in the Math De- Eric Ramos is a student of Jordan Ellen- an outstanding PhD thesis in applied gineering and Science Talent Search partment. In the 1990s she established a berg specializing in asymptotic aspects mathematics at UW–Madison. (https://www.math.wisc.edu/talent). scholarship fund for graduate women in of commutative algebra and representa- Students throughout Wisconsin (and the Liu Liu is advised by Shi Jin and works mathematics, chemistry, and physics. tion theory of categories. He has written on the development of efficient numeri- country) try their hand at five problem In 2017 Hirschfelder scholarships were five papers in the area. His most notable cal methods for kinetic equations and sets, submitting them and hoping for top awarded to achievement on homological invariants quantum dynamics with random inputs. Yuan Liu, Hanqing Lu, scores. These problem sets are difficult, and of FI-modules substantially generalizes, She initiated an analytic study for the Yuhua Zhu. but not so advanced that preteen and Yuan, a fourth year PhD student clarifies, and illuminates recent results of semiconductor Boltzmann equation with teen math students can’t figure them out. advised by Nigel Boston, works in alge- Ellenberg and Church on Castelnuovo- random input in which she established And each year, the Math Department braic number theory and proved various Mumford regularity. the regularity of the solution in the ran- gives out the Van Vleck Scholarship to results on an extension of the inverse dom space, and then proved the spectral a student (or students) who do the best Galois problem. Hanqing and Yuhua John Nohel Prize in Applied convergence of the stochastic Galerkin on the problem set questions and a final are first-year PhD students advised by method for the underlying equation. qualifier exam held each spring. The Van Mathematics Shi Jin who have both completed early Vleck Scholarship is $6,000 per year over Organizer Jonathan Kane, Organizer Melanie Matchett Wood, Winner Chatchannun Suri- yaammaranon of Oregon, WI, Provost Sarah Manglesdorf, Organizer Benedek Valko. Not John Nohel was a professor in the Depart- William Mitchell was advised by Saverio papers in their research on problems in a four-year scholarship at the University pictured: Winner: Mostafa Hassan of Milwaukee, W ment of Mathematics at the University of Spagnolie. He studies structure interac- numerical analysis. of Wisconsin. Wisconsin–Madison from 1961 to 1991. tion problems in highly viscous flows, This year, in the 52nd year of the Wisconsin Mathematics, Search Honors Day where the top-scoring students are He was professor emeritus until his death and develops fast and accurate com- L&S Teaching Fellow Engineering and Science Talent Search, we had two amazing celebrated. in 1999. At Wisconsin, Professor Nohel putational methods for solving them. Di Fang and Alisha Zachariah were winners. Chatchanun Suriyaammaranon of Oregon West We are thrilled that so many math-hungry students was Chair of the Department from 1968 After deriving a new traction boundary named 2017 College of Letters & High School, Oregon, WI, and Mostafa Hassan of eAchieve participate in our program and make our Talent Search to 1970, and Director of the Mathemat- integral equation for Stokes flow, Mitch- Science Teaching Fellows. Academy. The awards were announced at the Annual Talent competition such an amazing experience for all involved. n ics Research Center (MRC) from 1979 ell was able to investigate the shapes

12 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 13 Faculty/Staff News 2016–2017 Donors List

Dima Arinkin has been named as Vilas sity of Sydney, and Steven Goldstein, ing excellence. Brian stood out among The Math Department would like to thank its donors for their generosity during this year. Your support helps us fund our out- Associate. The Vilas Associate program UW–Madison) recently revealed a 27 newly promoted and astonishingly reach and education objectives, and keeps the UW–Madison Math Department among the top math departments in the world. breakthrough in the notion of “size” in impressive Associate Professors. is an internal competition that recog- Henry Luce Foundation Inc Mr Jack H Shreffler & Ms Carol A Mr Paul Donis & Ms Diane E Wickland nizes new and ongoing research of the symmetries of spaces, and a new discov- Mr Steven M Entine & Ms Lynn B Entine Shreffler Dr & Mrs Bruce E Frazier highest quality and significance. ery of “eta correspondence” to describe Benedek Valko has been named a Prof & Mrs Thomas G Kurtz Ms Elizabeth J Toman Mr Andrew J Gould explicitly “small” symmetries. Simons Fellow. The Simons Fellows in Mr Dennis V Osimitz & Ms Mary C Ms Barbara J Underberg Dr Joan E Hart Professor Emeritus Joshua Chover had Mathematics programs provide funds to Osimitz Ms Kathy E Green Mr Ethan S Kellogg Steffen Lempp has been on a one-year a show of his art, titled “From my Inner faculty for up to a semester-long research Mr Joseph R Cours Dr Kirby C Smith Dr Alfred P Lehnen & Ms Gwen R sabbatical in Singapore and having loads Eye,” at the Pyle Center on the UW leave from classroom teaching and ad- Mr Jeffrey S Saltzman & Ms Laurel A Professor Joseph Malkevitch Treleven of fun with the half-dozen logicians at campus during December 2016. Read ministrative obligations. Such leaves can Rogers Dr Matthew G Boylan Dr Jo Ann Lutz the two universities there. He also visits AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP Dr Donald R Goral Dr Colin S Poon more: http://go.wisc.edu/6n1569 increase creativity and provide intellec- the National Institute of Education Dr Jeffrey S Saltzman Mr Joseph H McCloskey Jr & Ms Ursula Prof & Mrs Byron L McAllister tual stimulation. The goal of the Simons regularly to try to find out what Singa- Dr Nancy E McKinley McCloskey Professor Jack Minker Jordan Ellenberg has won a Kellett Fellows program is to make it easier to pore math is really all about. Mr Paul C Aspinwall & Ms Bonnie R Ms Jayne A Overgard Dr Uchechukwu O Okpara Mid-Career Award. The Kellett awards take such leaves, or to extend sabbatical Bruce Mr Ronald F Whitney Mr John N Rehbeck recognize outstanding faculty seven to leaves by an extra half-yea Valko will be Dr Richard A Brualdi & Prof Mona C Mr Jordan E Moxon Mr R Frederick Roepe Professor Emeritus Paul Rabinowitz twenty years past their first promotion on sabbatical 2017–18. It is a very com- Wasow Prof & Mrs Charles T Young Ms Gladys C Steinberg was elected as a foreign member of the to a tenured position. Jordan is one of petitive program; being named a Fellow Professor Wendell H Fleming Professor David F Appleyard Ms Pamela Tomlinson Russian Academy of Sciences as part of eleven faculty on campus to win this is a significant recognition. Mr Simon Hellerstein Dr & Mrs Michael G Aschbacher Mr Seann T Watson & Ms Elizabeth A its 2016 class. He shares this honor with honor this year. Read more: http:// Mr Rand Methfessel Professor Martin W Bartelt Watson three other mathematicians as well as Jean-Luc Thiffeault was recently fea- Dr Douglas P Niebur Mr David A Cancell Mr Eric J White & Ms Elizabeth White go.wisc.edu/91429a Henry Kissinger. tured in the Washington Post’s Wonk- Professor Paul H Rabinowitz Dr & Mrs Kevin J Compton Mr Guang H Rong & Ms Yin Yao

blog on his paper exploring the math- T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Ms Patricia B Crocker Apple Inc If you think you’ve seen someone famil- Steven Sam has been awarded a Sloan ematical history of taffy pullers. (Read Giving Mr John A & Dr Joann N Cross Ms Yin Yao iar in the movie trailer for “Gifted,” you Fellowship. Steven was one of 126 more: http://go.wisc.edu/vg3hb2) Dr Lowell H Tonnessen & Ms Mary Lou Mr Bradley C Czech Mr Barry E DeZonia aren’t imagining it. Professor Jordan Eng Drs Carl S & Nancy L Davis Mr Jiwoong Oh & Ms Sally Griffith-Oh early-career scholars that represent the In the article, Thiffeault describes Ellenberg is seen at 1:31. Take a look Raymond James Charitable Endowment Ms Elnur Emrah Mr Travis A Kurth most promising scientific researchers moving from exploring taffy as part of yourself....http://go.wisc.edu/7hu86b Fund Mr Shiyang Fang Dr Roderick A Price working today. Their achievements and fluid dynamics lectures to exploring Mr Richard A Schrott Mr Jay J Finst Ms Zoe M Rickenbach & Professor Mark potential place them among the next where taffy machines came from and Ms Judith A Thompson Mr James W Freeman & Ms Pamela J G Rickenbach Daniel Erman did a guest video with generation of scientific leaders in the how they’ve evolved to be mathematical Professor Maynard D Thompson Freeman Ms Jennifer L Conant the YouTube series Numberphile about U.S. and Canada. models of efficiency in mixing, if only Dr James P Henderson Prof Jonathan M Kane & Prof Janet E Mr Huanyu Wen the Josephus problem. This was one of to introduce enough complexity to Dr Christina A Bahl Mertz Profs Walter J & Rochelle L Meyer the first problems he encountered in Timo Seppäläinen co-organized the avoid another’s patent. Thiffeault even Dr & Mrs Miroslav Benda Mr Jeffrey P Kanne & Ms Elizabeth D Prof & Mrs Sherwood D Silliman high school where he didn’t know how Mr Joseph Doniach Kanne Google Inc 2017 American Mathematical Society thought about how to make his own to approach a complex problem with a Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Mr Richard J Kos Mr Timothy K Swast & Ms Alexandra G Short Course on Random Growth Mod- more efficient model, as evidenced by his wide variability of inputs and solutions. Mr Robert A Fruit Mr Christopher Kuster Swast els which was held January 2–3, 2017, prototype for his improved taffy puller. He talks about an early mentor who Dr & Mrs Cris T Roosenraad Ms Valerie J Lehner & Mr David B Mr Peter J Blankenheim just before the Joint Mathematics Meet- (Link: https://youtu.be/pd_KMGs2n- encouraged him to spend time experi- Mr Richard G Turner Lehner Dr Ralph W Carr ing in Atlanta. The title of the course ZQ). Rest assured, Thiffeault isn’t going Dr Warren P Johnson Mr Paul A Morrison Dr Robert W Easton menting with the inputs and solutions to was Random Growth Models, and it was to ditch his job to make a living pulling Professor John R Michel Mr James T Remington & Ms Judith A Ms Mary Gerber see if he could find a pattern. He explains organized by Michael Damron (Georgia taffy, noting “Making candy is really dif- Mrs Elizabeth K Vaden & Mr Christopher Remington Dr Patricia S Grimm & Mr Dan Grimm the process to web viewers in a simple Tech), Firas Rassoul-Agha (Utah) and ficult...The process was a revelation into S Vaden Mr Erik M Scott Ms Linda C Johnston & Mr Charles and accessible way, much like his early Timo Seppäläinen(UW–Madison). The how complicated it is.” http://go.wisc. Mr John D Vedder & Ms Sandra L Vedder Mr Dawd S Siraj & Ms Nejiba S Siraj Johnston mentor did. Check out the video here: Mr Charles S & Dr Christine L Salisbury Mr Philip L Sobocinski & Ms Kathleen A Ms Jan G Kinar & Mr John R Kinar course consisted of lectures by six experts edu/9hbs90 https://youtu.be/uCsD3ZGzMgE Dr Gernot M Engel Sobocinski Penny Severa and was aimed at a broad audience, from Dr Lee Parsons Dr & Mrs Steve P Verrill Mr David W Webb III & Ms Joyce D Daniel Erman is also the faculty advi- the casually interested to researchers in The Faculty Early Career Development Mr Jerald H Tutsch & Ms Kendra K Mr Jan M Vrtilek Webb sor for the UW Math Circle (http:// probability. The October issue of the (CAREER) Program offers the National Tutsch Mr David F Zavadsky Ms Carolyn J De Maria go.wisc.edu/bui1yz), which is an AMS Notices presented a preview of the Science Foundation’s most prestigious Mr Andrew D Bailey III Dr Diana G Palenz Michael and Judith O’Connor Family outreach group dedicated to helping course (http://go.wisc.edu/4pq4h0) awards in support of the early career- Dr Miroslav Benda Mr Scott P Snyder U/T/D younger students interested in math and a light introductory article (http:// development activities of those teacher- Boeing Company Ms Rebekah J Sherman Mr Colin E Moriarty & Ms Jennifer E learn more about the many exciting go.wisc.edu/h9p59y). scholars who most effectively integrate Profs Cary B & Katrina Forest Dr Myrtle H Lewin Moriarty Mr Ira G Kastrinsky & Ms Joan G Ms Mary E Beaumont Ms Judy A O’Connor things you can discover by experiment- research and education within the Congratuations to our own Brian Kastrinsky Mr James S Burmeister & Ms Fay A Professor Eleanor Strauss ing with numbers. context of the mission of their orga- Street, the winner of the Certain/ Ms Susan G Morrell & Mr James A Burmeister Dr Matthew J Harrington nization. The Math Department has Sandefur award. The Certain/Sandefur Morrell Mr Ying-Te Liu & Dr Chia-Chin Chang Mr Erik E Stevens Shamgar Gurevich and his collabora- three winners of CAREER awards this award is given to one newly tenured Prof & Mrs Ronald W Prielipp Mr Kristian A Chavira tors (Roger Howe, of Yale and Texas year: Melanie Matchett Wood, Betsy Professor Daniel J Richman Prof Peter A Cholak & Ms Elizabeth A Professor in the College of L&S in A&M, John Cannon, of the Univer- Stovall, and Steven Sam. Ms Hedy J Rossmeissl Williams recognition of both research and teach-

14 Van Vleck Vector (V3) math.wisc.edu 15 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #658 Madison, WI 215 Van Vleck Hall 480 Lincoln Drive Madison, WI 53706

Professor Julie Mitchell assists children in playing a video game called FoldIT during Saturday Science. The goal is to fold proteins (e.g., enzymes, antibodies) by making moves that create hydrogen bonds and other favorable non-covalent interactions, and by avoiding unfavorable collisions between atoms.

Secrets of Mathematics at Saturday Science On the first Saturday of each month over 700 kids and parents from around Wisconsin descend upon the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) for Sat- urday Science. When it was announced

that the theme for last August’s event WOOD MELANIE MATCHETT was “Secrets of Mathematics” we jumped at the opportunity to share our excitement and appreciation of math with others. In the end, over a dozen members of the department hosted seven booths! The Math Circle ran tables focused on the mathematics behind games like Set, Nim, and Chomp. Kids and parents alike explored questions such as, “What is the largest number of Set cards one can have without a set?” Participants also tried their hands at defeating the “game master” with Babcock Hall ice cream on the line. infamous Monty Hall problem (a clever A special thanks to the graduate The department also organized six question in probability that is reputed to students who staffed booths: Jay Yang, other booths on a broad range of topics. have even tricked Paul Erdos). The event Ivan Ongay Valverde, Micky Steinberg, For example, one table had students was a huge success, with 661 participants Soumya Sankar, Adrian Tovar Lopez, explore elementary graph theory and coming in to have fun with math. We Ryan Julian, Daniel Hast, Eva Elduque, topology via the Bridges of Konigsburg look forward to participating in Saturday Jim Brunner, and DJ Bruce. n problem, and another focused on the Science again in the future. Article by Phillip Wood, DJ Bruce