Department of Mathematics Cornell University Annual Report 1996Ð97 Year in Review: Mathematics Instruction and Research Dedication Wolfgang H. J. Fuchs This annual report is dedicated to the memory of Wolfgang H. J. Fuchs, professor emeritus of mathematics at Cornell University, who died February 24, 1997, at his home. Born on May 19, 1915, in Munich, Germany, Wolfgang moved to England in 1933 and enrolled at Cambridge University, where he received his B.A. in 1936 and his Ph.D. in 1941. He held various teaching positions in Great Britain between 1938 and 1950. During the 1948Ð49 academic year, he held a visiting position in the Mathematics Department at Cornell University. He returned to the Ithaca community in 1950 as a permanent member of the department, where he continued to work vigorously even after his ofÞcial retirement in 1985. He was chairman of the Mathematics Department from 1969 to 1973. His academic honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright-Hays Research Fellowship, and a Humboldt Senior Scientist award. Wolfgang was a renowned mathematician who specialized in the classical theory of functions of one complex variable, especially Nevanlinna theory and approximation theory. His fundamental discoveries in Nevanlinna theory, many of them the product of an extended collaboration with Albert Edrei, reshaped the theory and have profoundly inßuenced two generations of mathematicians. His colleagues will remember him both for his mathematical achievements and for his remarkable good humor and generosity of spirit. He is survived by his wife, Dorothee Fuchs, his children Ñ Annie (Harley) Campbell, John Fuchs and Claudia (Lewis McClellen) Fuchs Ñ and by his grandchildren: Storn and Cody Cook, and Lorenzo and Natalia Fuchs McClellen. 1 Department of Mathematics Annual Report 1996Ð97 Year in Review: Mathematics Instruction and Research Cornell University Þrst among private institutions in undergraduates who later earn Ph.D.s. Ithaca, New York, the home of Cornell University, is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region. It offers the cultural activities of a large university and the diversions of a rural environment. Mathematics study at Cornell is a unique experience. The University has managed to foster excellence in research without forsaking the ideals of a liberal education. In many ways, the cohesiveness and rigor of the Mathematics Department is a reßection of the Cornell Tradition. Robert Connelly, chair Department of Mathematics Cornell University Telephone: (607) 255-4013 124 White Hall Fax: (607) 255-7149 Ithaca, NY 14853-7901 e-mail: [email protected] 1 Table of Contents The Year in Review .....................................................................................1 Support Sta ...........................................................................................2 Graduate Program .....................................................................................2 Research and Professional Activities.................................................................3 Faculty Changes .......................................................................................4 New Faculty for 1997–98 ..............................................................................4 Xavier Bu; Persi Diaconis; Yulij Ilyashenko; Laurent Salo-Coste; Jiaping Wang; Daniel Wise Gifts .....................................................................................................5 Awards and Honors ....................................................................................5 Clark Distinguished Teaching Award; Eleanor Norton York Award; Hutchinson Fellowship; Ithaca High School Senior Prize; Kieval Prize; Merill Presidential Scholar; Putnam Fellows; Sloan Research Fellowship; Sloan Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Instructional Activities ................................................................................6 Curriculum Changes ...................................................................................6 Interdisciplinary Instructional Activity ..............................................................7 Mathematics/Engineering Liaison; Teaching Exchange Relocation Preparations...............................................................................8 Department Needs .....................................................................................8 Professional and Support Sta; Operating Budget; Equipment Mathematics Course Enrollment Statistics .......................................................10 Faculty and Sta Directory ..........................................................................12 Graduate Student Directory .........................................................................13 Special Programs and Activities ....................................................................14 Faculty Publications..................................................................................14 Louis Billera; Richard Durrett; Jose Escobar; Dexter Kozen; Anil Nerode and Richard Shore; Lloyd Trefethen Spring Concert Series ................................................................................15 Topology Festival .....................................................................................15 Joint Meetings of the AMS and MAA .............................................................16 Preparing Future Professors .........................................................................16 Expanding Your Horizons ...........................................................................17 Math Awareness Week ...............................................................................17 Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program ..............................................17 Centers and Institutes................................................................................18 Center for Applied Mathematics; Mathematical Sciences Institute; Statistics Center Mathematics Library .................................................................................19 Special Instructional Support .......................................................................19 Computer Lab; Mathematics Support Center; Learning Skills Center NSF Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Workshop............................................20 Mathematics Education..............................................................................21 Cornell/Schools Mathematics Resource Program; Geometry Workshop for Mathematics Teachers; Teacher Education in Science and Mathematics Calculus Reform Resource Development ...........................................................21 Mathematics Department Endowments ............................................................22 The Colloquium Endowment Fund; The Eleanor Norton York Endowment; The Faculty Book Endowment; The Israel Berstein Memorial Fund; The Logic Endowment Degrees Granted 1996–97 ...........................................................................23 Department Colloquia ................................................................................26 Research Grant Activity ..............................................................................33 The Faculty and their Research .....................................................................34 Faculty Proles.........................................................................................35 Visiting Faculty Program Participants .............................................................65 Sta Proles............................................................................................69 The Year in Review 1996–97 This was an historic year for the Mathematics Depart- mathematics. We continue in our endeavor to hire people ment. We had an unusually high number of vacant fac- capable of doing an excellent job of both teaching and ulty lines to ll, presenting a special opportunity for the research. department. We will be making decisions that will ef- fect us for a long time. We initiated ve tenure-track On another front, a cooperative eort with the College searches, and lled three faculty positions. of Engineering has resulted in a signicant restructur- ing of one of our freshman engineering calculus courses. Persi Diaconis, a member of the National Academy of Plans have been approved for the fall semester teaching Sciences, has accepted the oer of the David Duncan of Math 192 — the second course in engineering calcu- Chair, previously held by Carl Sagan. He will hold half- lus — to be converted from the existing large lecture time appointments in the Mathematics Department and system to smaller classes of about 25 students. Thanks the School of Operations Research and Industrial En- to the generosity and cooperation of President Rawl- gineering in the Engineering College. As a visitor dur- ings, Provost Randel, Dean Lewis and Dean Hopcroft, ing the 1996–97 academic year, Persi gave a course on engineering freshmen will benet from the advantages Markov chains to a packed house in the fall and a course of smaller class sizes starting in the 1997–98 academic on the theory of nite groups in the spring. Persi seemed year. (For more information, see page 7.) As part of to be everywhere this year, giving seminars all over cam- this plan, we were given permission to hire an additional pus. We look forward to his return as a permanent mem- H. C. Wang assistant professor to help oset the resul- ber of our faculty; his presence will greatly benet the tant need for additional instructors. We are pleased that