PSU Mathematics Department

This page will be regularly updated with important events happening at the math department. Please e-mail news items to web-news@math.psu.edu.

Pritchard dissertation awards.
The Graduate Studies Committee has announced this year's winners of the Pritchard Dissertation Award. The graduate student winners are Vaughn Climenhaga (advised by Distinguished Professor Yakov Pesin), Van Cyr (advised by Associate Professor Omri Sarig), and Zhenqi Wang (advised by Shibley Professor Anatole Katok).
11 / 16 / 2009

October visitors.
The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors. Dr. Fan Wen from Ocean University of China is visiting 10/13/09-9/30/10. He will work in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory with Professor Diane Henderson. Prof. Jiequan Li from Capital Normal University is visiting 10/5/09-11/5/09. His office is 308 McAllister and his host is Professor Yuxi Zheng. Dr. Erwin Karer from Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics (RICAM) is visiting 10/17/09-11/17/09. His office is 419A McAllister and his host is Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov. Prof. Falai Chen from University of Science and Technology of China is visiting 10/18/09-10/23/09. His office is 227 McAllister and Willaman Professor Qiang Du is his host. Prof. Bernard Deconinck from University of Washington is visiting 10/19/09-11/23/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Professor Diane Henderson is his host. Prof. Jean-Francois Quint from Universite Paris 13 is visiting 10/24/09-11/22/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Shibley Professor Anatole Katok is his host. Prof. Jonathan Block from University of Pennsylvania is visiting 10/12/09-10/16/09. The office is 232 McAllister and Evan Pugh Professor Nigel Higson is his host.
10 / 05 / 2009

October visitors.

The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors.

Dr. Fan Wen from Ocean University of China is visiting 10/13/09-9/30/10. He will work in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory with Professor Diane Henderson.
Prof. Jiequan Li from Capital Normal University is visiting 10/5/09-11/5/09. His office is 308 McAllister and his host is Professor Yuxi Zheng.
Dr. Erwin Karer from Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics (RICAM) is visiting 10/17/09-11/17/09. His office is 419A McAllister and his host is Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov.
Prof. Falai Chen from University of Science and Technology of China is visiting 10/18/09-10/23/09. His office is 227 McAllister and Willaman Professor Qiang Du is his host.
Prof. Bernard Deconinck from University of Washington is visiting 10/19/09-11/23/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Professor Diane Henderson is his host.
Prof. Jean-Francois Quint from Universite Paris 13 is visiting 10/24/09-11/22/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Shibley Professor Anatole Katok is his host.
Prof. Jonathan Block from University of Pennsylvania is visiting 10/12/09-10/16/09. The office is 232 McAllister and Evan Pugh Professor Nigel Higson is his host.

10 / 05 / 2009

Student chapter of SIAM.
Recently a student chapter of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) has been founded here at Penn State. Students in all areas of the University are encouraged to join. There is no membership fee. The first event was a seminar talk, "Fourier analysis on iterative methods," by Mathematics graduate student Yao Chen.
09 / 25 / 2009

Simpson speaks in Computer Science Theory seminar.
Recently Professor Stephen G. Simpson gave a talk in the Theory Seminar of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. His talk was entitled An introduction to Kolmogorov complexity. His slides are available.
09 / 17 / 2009

Hager appointed Faculty Resident Scholar in the Penn State Learning Center.
Senior Lecturer James Hager was recently appointed to the position of Faculty Resident Scholar in Math and Physical Sciences in the newly formed Penn State Learning Center. Specific duties of this part-time appointment include: 1) provide liaison services between the Math Department and the newly formed Penn State Learning Center, 2) work with faculty members to identify areas within individual courses where students struggle, 3) work with faculty members to consider new pedagogy and curricular innovations, 4) develop and support a variety of learning situations that engage students and encourage them to take personal responsibility for their education, 5) Work with PSULearning-affiliated graduate students conducting research in teaching and learning, 6) work closely with the Center for Excellence in Science Education when it comes on line.
09 / 17 / 2009

Hager appointed Faculty Resident Scholar in the Penn State Learning Center.

Senior Lecturer James Hager was recently appointed to the position of Faculty Resident Scholar in Math and Physical Sciences in the newly formed Penn State Learning Center. Specific duties of this part-time appointment include: 1) provide liaison services between the Math Department and the newly formed Penn State Learning Center, 2) work with faculty members to identify areas within individual courses where students struggle, 3) work with faculty members to consider new pedagogy and curricular innovations, 4) develop and support a variety of learning situations that engage students and encourage them to take personal responsibility for their education, 5) Work with PSULearning-affiliated graduate students conducting research in teaching and learning, 6) work closely with the Center for Excellence in Science Education when it comes on line.

09 / 17 / 2009

Vaserstein to speak in Operations Research Colloquium.
Professor Leonid Vaserstein will speak in the Operations Research Colloquium here at Penn State. His talk is scheduled for September 8 at 4:15 PM.
09 / 04 / 2009

Visitors.
The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors. Mr. Ming Fang from Peking University is visiting 9/1/09-8/31/10. His office is 10 McAllister and Assistant Professor Xiantao Li is his host. Prof. Sergei Ivanov from Steklov Institute for Math, St. Petersburg Branch, is visiting 9/20/09-11/10/09. His office is 232 McAllister and Professor Dmitri Burago is his host. Dr. Lewis Bowen from Texas A&M is visiting 9/27/09-10/15/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Shibley Professor Anatole Katok is his host. Prof. Alexander Lytchak from University of Bonn is visiting from 9/23/09-10/7/09. His office is 234 and Associate Professor Anton Petrunin is his host.
09 / 01 / 2009

Visitors.

The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors.

Mr. Ming Fang from Peking University is visiting 9/1/09-8/31/10. His office is 10 McAllister and Assistant Professor Xiantao Li is his host.
Prof. Sergei Ivanov from Steklov Institute for Math, St. Petersburg Branch, is visiting 9/20/09-11/10/09. His office is 232 McAllister and Professor Dmitri Burago is his host.
Dr. Lewis Bowen from Texas A&M is visiting 9/27/09-10/15/09. His office is 209 McAllister and Shibley Professor Anatole Katok is his host.
Prof. Alexander Lytchak from University of Bonn is visiting from 9/23/09-10/7/09. His office is 234 and Associate Professor Anton Petrunin is his host.

09 / 01 / 2009

Spaeth accepts postdoctoral position in Korea.
Lecturer Peter Spaeth has accepted a postdoctoral position at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study in Seoul, starting September 2009.
08 / 28 / 2009

Sarig to speak at ICM.
Associate Professor Omri Sarig will give a 45-minute invited presentation at the International Congress of Mathematicians, August 19-27, 2010, in Hyderabad, India.
08 / 26 / 2009

Mullen serves on Fq9 conference committee.
Professor Gary L. Mullen served on the Organizing Committee for Fq 9, the Ninth International Conference on Finite Fields and their Applications, held in Dublin, Ireland, July 13-17, 2009. He is also co-editing the conference proceedings volume to be published by the American Mathematical Society in their series Contemporary Mathematics. He also gave a talk entitled "Dickson polynomials over finite fields; a different perspective."
08 / 14 / 2009

Mullen serves on Fq9 conference committee.

Professor Gary L. Mullen served on the Organizing Committee for Fq 9, the Ninth International Conference on Finite Fields and their Applications, held in Dublin, Ireland, July 13-17, 2009. He is also co-editing the conference proceedings volume to be published by the American Mathematical Society in their series Contemporary Mathematics. He also gave a talk entitled "Dickson polynomials over finite fields; a different perspective."

08 / 14 / 2009

Mullen serves as Acting Department Head.
Professor Gary L. Mullen is serving as Acting Department Head from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
08 / 14 / 2009

Jason Morton to join department as assistant professor.
The Department of Mathematics welcomes Jason Morton, who will join us as an assistant professor in January 2010. Jason received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. His research interests include geometry of probability models and algorithms.
08 / 13 / 2009

New lecturers and postdocs.
The Department of Mathematics welcomes these new lecturers and postdoctoral faculty. James Adler received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests are in the area of computational mathematics. James will be a research assistant professor working with Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu, Professor Chun Liu, Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov, and Assistant Professor James Brannick. Brandon Chabaud received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota in 2009. His research interests include mathematical modeling and applied mathematics; numerical analysis; theory of PDE; equations of flow and numerical analysis of differential equations. Brandon will be a postdoc working with Willaman Professor Qiang Du. Filiz Dogru received her Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2003. Her research interests include dynamical systems of billiard type and their relations to geometry and topology, in particular, polygonal dual billiards in the hyperbolic plane. Filiz will be a lecturer. Johannes Kraus received his Ph.D. from the University of Salzburg in 2007. His research interests include numerical solution of partial difference equations, finite element methods, numerical linear algebra and algebraic multigrid and multilevel methods. Johannes will join the department as a research associate working with Ludmil Zikatanov and James Brannick. Kagan Kursungoz received his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2009. His research interests include combinatorics and partition theory. Kagan will be a lecturer. Donald Mills received his Ph.D. from Clemson University in 1999. His research interests include finite field functions and their applications to coding theory and cryptography; existence of primitive polynomials over finite fields satisfying certain properties; exponential sums over finite fields and combinatorial number theory. Don will be a lecturer. Daniel Thompson received his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in 2009. His research interests include ergodic theory and the statistical properties of hyperbolic dynamics and ergodic properties of geometric flows. Dan will be an S. Chowla Research Assistant Professor. Li Tian expects to receive his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in August. His research interests include numerical solutions of partial differential equations and adaptive mesh generation. Li will be an S. Chowla Research Assistant Professor. Heiko Todt expects to receive his Ph.D. from Penn State University in December of 2009. His research interests include partitions. Heiko will be an instructor. Zhifei Zhang received his Ph.D. from Zhejiang University in 2003. His research interests include harmonic analysis and partial differential equations. Zhifei will be a lecturer.
08 / 13 / 2009

New lecturers and postdocs.

The Department of Mathematics welcomes these new lecturers and postdoctoral faculty.

James Adler received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests are in the area of computational mathematics. James will be a research assistant professor working with Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu, Professor Chun Liu, Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov, and Assistant Professor James Brannick.
Brandon Chabaud received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota in 2009. His research interests include mathematical modeling and applied mathematics; numerical analysis; theory of PDE; equations of flow and numerical analysis of differential equations. Brandon will be a postdoc working with Willaman Professor Qiang Du.
Filiz Dogru received her Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2003. Her research interests include dynamical systems of billiard type and their relations to geometry and topology, in particular, polygonal dual billiards in the hyperbolic plane. Filiz will be a lecturer.
Johannes Kraus received his Ph.D. from the University of Salzburg in 2007. His research interests include numerical solution of partial difference equations, finite element methods, numerical linear algebra and algebraic multigrid and multilevel methods. Johannes will join the department as a research associate working with Ludmil Zikatanov and James Brannick.
Kagan Kursungoz received his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2009. His research interests include combinatorics and partition theory. Kagan will be a lecturer.
Donald Mills received his Ph.D. from Clemson University in 1999. His research interests include finite field functions and their applications to coding theory and cryptography; existence of primitive polynomials over finite fields satisfying certain properties; exponential sums over finite fields and combinatorial number theory. Don will be a lecturer.
Daniel Thompson received his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in 2009. His research interests include ergodic theory and the statistical properties of hyperbolic dynamics and ergodic properties of geometric flows. Dan will be an S. Chowla Research Assistant Professor.
Li Tian expects to receive his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in August. His research interests include numerical solutions of partial differential equations and adaptive mesh generation. Li will be an S. Chowla Research Assistant Professor.
Heiko Todt expects to receive his Ph.D. from Penn State University in December of 2009. His research interests include partitions. Heiko will be an instructor.
Zhifei Zhang received his Ph.D. from Zhejiang University in 2003. His research interests include harmonic analysis and partial differential equations. Zhifei will be a lecturer.

08 / 13 / 2009

Current NSF-DMS Research Grants.
Currently 39 Penn State faculty members are Principal Investigators in research projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences. They are: Akritas, Andrews, Baum, Berlyand, Bressan, Brown, Brownawell, Du, Eisentraeger, Formanek, Fricks, Henderson, Higson, Jenssen, Katok, Krainer, Levi, B. Li, R. Li, W. Li, X. Li, Lindsay, Liu, Mazzucato, Nistor, Papikian, Pesin, Petrunin, Richards, Sarig, Shen, Simpson, Wu, Wysocki, J. Xu, P. Xu, Yao, Yee, Zikatanov.
08 / 13 / 2009

Current NSF-DMS Research Grants.

Currently 39 Penn State faculty members are Principal Investigators in research projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences. They are: Akritas, Andrews, Baum, Berlyand, Bressan, Brown, Brownawell, Du, Eisentraeger, Formanek, Fricks, Henderson, Higson, Jenssen, Katok, Krainer, Levi, B. Li, R. Li, W. Li, X. Li, Lindsay, Liu, Mazzucato, Nistor, Papikian, Pesin, Petrunin, Richards, Sarig, Shen, Simpson, Wu, Wysocki, J. Xu, P. Xu, Yao, Yee, Zikatanov.

08 / 13 / 2009

Fall Visitors.
The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors for Fall 2009. Ms. Xiaoting Xu from Xiangtan University is visiting 8/1/09-5/15/10. Her office is 316 McAllister and her hosts are Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu and Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov. Prof. Zhifei Zhang from Beijing University is visiting 8/24/09-12/31/09. His office is 230 McAllister and his host is Professor Yuxi Zheng. Dr. Fabio Ancona from University of Bologna is visiting 8/1/09-8/9/09. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Eberly Professor Alberto Bressan. Prof. Rinaldo Colombo from Universita degli Studi de Brescia is visiting 8/2/09-8/23/09. His office is 209 McAllister and his host is Eberly Professor Alberto Bressan. Prof. Victoria Sadovskaya from University of South Alabama is visiting 8/15/09-11/15/09. Her office is 428 McAllister and her host is Shibley Professor Anatole Katok. Prof. Boris Kalinin from University of South Alabama is visiting 8/15/09-11/15/09. His office is 428 McAllister and his host is Shibley Professor Anatole Katok. Prof. Konstantinos Chatzikyriakou from University of Thessaly is visiting 8/15/09-12/31/09. His office is 232 McAllister and his host is Professor Stephen Simpson. Prof. Qian Guo from Shanghai Normal University is visiting 8/15/09-8/31/10. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Willaman Professor Qiang Du. Mr. Sylvain Arguillere from Ecole Normal Superieure is visiting 8/15/09-1/31/10. His office is 419A McAllister. His host is Professor Dmitri Burago. Miss Guozhu Yu from Sichuan University is visiting 8/20/09-8/19/11. Her office is 316 McAllister and her host is Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu. Dr. Iyer Gautam from Carnegie Mellon University is visiting 8/3/09-8/15/09. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Associate Professor Alexei Novikov. Prof. Keita Yokoyama from Tohoku University is visiting 8/25/09-9/4/09. His office is 209 McAllister and his host is Professor Stephen Simpson.
08 / 04 / 2009

Fall Visitors.

The Department of Mathematics welcomes these visitors for Fall 2009.

Ms. Xiaoting Xu from Xiangtan University is visiting 8/1/09-5/15/10. Her office is 316 McAllister and her hosts are Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu and Associate Professor Ludmil Zikatanov.
Prof. Zhifei Zhang from Beijing University is visiting 8/24/09-12/31/09. His office is 230 McAllister and his host is Professor Yuxi Zheng.
Dr. Fabio Ancona from University of Bologna is visiting 8/1/09-8/9/09. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Eberly Professor Alberto Bressan.
Prof. Rinaldo Colombo from Universita degli Studi de Brescia is visiting 8/2/09-8/23/09. His office is 209 McAllister and his host is Eberly Professor Alberto Bressan.
Prof. Victoria Sadovskaya from University of South Alabama is visiting 8/15/09-11/15/09. Her office is 428 McAllister and her host is Shibley Professor Anatole Katok.
Prof. Boris Kalinin from University of South Alabama is visiting 8/15/09-11/15/09. His office is 428 McAllister and his host is Shibley Professor Anatole Katok.
Prof. Konstantinos Chatzikyriakou from University of Thessaly is visiting 8/15/09-12/31/09. His office is 232 McAllister and his host is Professor Stephen Simpson.
Prof. Qian Guo from Shanghai Normal University is visiting 8/15/09-8/31/10. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Willaman Professor Qiang Du.
Mr. Sylvain Arguillere from Ecole Normal Superieure is visiting 8/15/09-1/31/10. His office is 419A McAllister. His host is Professor Dmitri Burago.
Miss Guozhu Yu from Sichuan University is visiting 8/20/09-8/19/11. Her office is 316 McAllister and her host is Distinguished Professor Jinchao Xu.
Dr. Iyer Gautam from Carnegie Mellon University is visiting 8/3/09-8/15/09. His office is 332 McAllister and his host is Associate Professor Alexei Novikov.
Prof. Keita Yokoyama from Tohoku University is visiting 8/25/09-9/4/09. His office is 209 McAllister and his host is Professor Stephen Simpson.

08 / 04 / 2009

June visitors.
Prof. Boris Hasselblatt from Tufts University is visiting 6/9/09 to 6/25/09. His office is 428 McAllister and his host is Shibley Professor Anatole Katok. Mr. Alexander Grigo from Georgia Institute of Technology is visiting 6/11/09 to 6/23/09. His office is 332 and his host is Distinguished Professor Vadim Kaloshin.
06 / 10 / 2009

Birth announcement.
We congratulate Staff Assistant Amy Stover on the birth of her daughter, Katelyn Amy Stover, on Tuesday June 2.
06 / 10 / 2009

Faculty promotions.
Anna Mazzucato, Alexei Novikov, and Wen Shen have been awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in our department. In addition, Kris Wysocki has been promoted to full Professor. Congratulations to Anna, Alexei, Wen and Kris!
05 / 26 / 2009

Morton joins department as a new Assistant Professor.
Jason Morton from Stanford has accepted our department's offer of a tenure-track position jointly in our department and the Department of Statistics. Jason's work in "algebraic statistics" applies ideas from algebraic geometry and combinatorics to study statistical models. He will join us full-time next spring semester (Spring 2010).
05 / 26 / 2009

Formanek will retire.
Professor Edward Formanek plans to retire at the end of this academic year. Ed has been a member of the department since 1978 and we're very grateful for all of his contributions. Congratulations, Ed!
05 / 26 / 2009

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