NES MAA

Bard College at Simon’s Rock (reporter William Dunbar) Allen Altman retired after 22 years of service. Brian Wynne, a 2005 Wesleyan Ph.D., joined the faculty.

Boston College (reporter Dan Chambers) Ben Howard and Tao Li received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. Jerry Keough has retired. Jay Pottharst has begun a 3 year postdoc. Sol Friedberg has been appointed to a second two-year term as editor of the book series Issues in Mathematical Education. Wiley has published the third edition of Introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, by Paul R. Thie and Jerry Keough. Avner Ash has recently been appointed as an editor of the Journal of Number Theory. John H. Conway of Princeton gave 3 lectures as the first annual Boston College Distinguished Lecturer in Mathematics. Martin Bridgeman and Tao Li served on the organizing committee for the 4th William Rowan Hamilton Geometry and Topology Workshop held August 28-30, 2009 at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. The workshop was co-sponsored by Boston College, and included a wine reception at Boston College Centre for Irish Programmes in Dublin. The theme of this year's workshop was Heegard splittings, mapping class groups, curve complexes and related topics. Boston College and MIT will join forces this coming year to create a Number Theory Seminar series, with the goal of attracting number theorists from the greater Boston area and featuring important advances in modern number theory. See www.bc.edu/ntseminar

Eastern Connecticut State University (reporter Peter Johnson) Steve Kenton retired in Spring 2008. He was amember of the faculty for more than 35 years and was active in attending MAA meetings and taking students to them. He was the MAA liaison for many years. The College has opened a new Mathematics Achievement Center (MAC) with mandatory weekly attendance for students in developmental classes. Finally, the Department has moved into a brand new Science Building with our biological and chemical and physical science brethren. It is quite a nice place!

Fairfield University (reporter Matthew Coleman) The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is happy to welcome two new assistant professors this year. Shawn Rafalski received his Ph.D. from U. Illinois-Chicago in 2007 and joins us after a one-year visiting position at Williams College. Janet Striuli earned her Ph.D. in 2005 from U. Kansas, and joins after having spent a three-year post-doc at U. Nebraska.

Framingham State College (reporter Sarah Mabrouk) We are delighted to welcome two new assistant professors, Brooke Andersen and Sheree Arpin, to the Department effective September 1, 2008. Brooke Andersen earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Dartmouth College and her B.S. in Mathematics from Centre College. Before attending graduate school she taught mathematics at Lexington High School for a year and a half. Brooke is a member of Project NeXT. Sheree Arpin earned her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from University of Arizona and her B.S. in Zoology and Applied Mathematics from the University of Rhode Island. Before coming to Framingham State College, she taught mathematics as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Arizona and as an associate faculty member at Cochise Community College. Ruth Hibbard joins us as a part-time Instructor; she is teaching MATH 095 General Mathematics. Ruth is a 2008 graduate of Framingham State College. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics with a minor in Secondary Education and a minor in Spanish. Joyce Cutler and Walter Czarnec worked with teachers in the Southbridge Public Schools as part of an Improving Teacher Quality Grant. Robert Page has been working with Joe O'Brien at Keefe P. Technical School in Framingham, Massachusetts on developing a professional development course through Framingham State College’s Division of Graduate and Continuing Education to train vocational school teachers in the use of technology in teaching mathematics. The course will begin on October 1, 2008. Julie Levandosky was awarded tenure effective September 1, 2008. Sonja Sandberg is on sabbatical for the 2008 – 2009 Academic year. She is in Shanghai, China teaching English as a second language. Walter Czarnec became Acting Chair of the Mathematics Department for the 2008 – 2009 Academic year effective July 1, 2008. Thomas Koshy will conduct an enhanced version of his minicourse, Catalan Numbers and Their Applications, during the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington, D.C. in January.

Lyndon State College (reporter Kevin Farrell). We welcome back Daisy McCoy from Sabbatical and our new Faculty Member Dan Daley, Assistant Professor, Mathematics/Developmental Math Coordinator. Dan returns to LSC from Lyndon Institute where he has taught math for many years. He worked at Lyndon State College as a learning specialist from 1992-1997; in addition, Dan is also an alum of Lyndon State College having earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, so he is very familiar with the campus. Dan has moved into the office formerly occupied by Dr. John Muzzey. John was a mentor for Dan, having taught him “all the math he knows”. Dan’s first college math class was with Dr. Muzzey in 1977.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy (reporter Frank Battles) Professor Eugene F. McCarthy who retired from the Academy in 2003 passed away in June. He had been a mathematics professor at the Academy since 1982 and had previously taught at Boston State COlelge from 1965. An excellent teacher, Professor McCarthy earned a reputation for caring about students as individuals. He was honored as a Presidential Scholar at Boston College, as a National Science Foundation Fellow at Carnegie-Mellon University, and with the Distinguished Service Award at the Academy.

Merrimack College (reporter Michael Bradley) The College hired Brandy Benedict who earned her degree in applied mathematics in 2008 from North Carolina State University. She is a project NExT fellow.

Providence College (reporter Frank Ford) Professor Rick Lavoie retired in May after over 30 years of teaching at Providence College. The College hired Asta Shomberg who received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in Statistics to replace him. The College also hired Joseph Shomberg who received his Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in Analysis/Applied Mathematics. Professor Jim Tattersall had his Number Theory book translated into Japanese and published in Japan.

Regis College (reporter Barbara Loud) Susan Williamson, Professor Emerita, died in July. Santhosh Matthew is a new tenure track appointee.

Rivier College (reporter Teresa Magnus) It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Stefan Ehrlich on Friday, September 5, 2008. Stefan has been a faculty member at Rivier College since 1987 and had been hoping to teach this fall. He served as Chair of the Graduate Mathematics and Computer Science Department from 1987-1993.

Saint Michael’s College (reporter George Ashline) We wish to thank the 70 or so participants that joined us for the Spring 2008 NES-MAA meeting which we hosted on May 30^th and 31^st. The conference theme was “Mathematical Modeling in Biology and the Environment” and talk titles/abstracts and other conference details are still accessible at http://academics.smcvt.edu/MAA_NES_Spring2008_Meeting/index.htm. We have hired Victoria Green, MS, from University of Vermont, as a full-time instructor for the current year. Zsu Kadas is on sabbatical for the current academic year, and George Ashline will be on sabbatical in the spring. Greta Pangborn (CS) is the PI, along with co-PIs Mike Battig (CS) and Jo Ellis-Monaghan (Mathematics), for a $578,500 S-STEM NSF grant. The five-year grant will provide financial support to approximately 20 highly promising computer science and mathematics students who have financial need.

Smith College (reporter Katherine Halvorsen) The Smith College Department of Mathematics and Statistics announces their Center for Women in Mathematics is in its second year. The Center offers women with a bachelors degree the opportunity to study mathematics for one year in preparation for applying to graduate programs in mathematics. The Center also invites students with junior class standing to spend a year at Smith studying mathematics. Financial aid is available for both juniors and postbacs through a generous NSF grant. The Smith Center for Women in Mathematics sponsored a Women in Mathematics in New England Conference (WIMIN) on Saturday, Sept 27 at Smith College. Eighty participants from thirty New England area schools heard eighteen student talks and faculty talks by Jo Ellis-Monaghan from St. Michaels College in Colchester, VT and Ruth Charney from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Pau Atela, faculty member in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Smith College, announced: "X = " an art + math participation; October 16 - 19, 2008, www.mathstudio.info. X is a site-specific participation and installation involving 16 artists and mathematicians working in 4 designed studio spaces to explore the creative process and dynamic communication between art and math, including image/blackboard projections and live stream video and television at APE gallery, 150 Main Street, in downtown Northampton, including public talk by world-renowned artist Richard Tuttle.

UMass-Boston (reporter Jack Lutts) Last year, the College hired Timothy Killingback who taught previously at William and Mary. His Ph.D. is from the University of Edinborough and his research interests are in Mathematical Biology, Evolutionary Dynamics, Dynamical Systems, and Game Theory. This year, the College hired Eduardo Gonzales who has a Ph.D. from SUNY-Stony Brook, an BS from the National Polytechnic of Mexico, and research interests in Symplectic Geometry, Algebraic Geometry, Gauge Theory, and Mathematical Physics. Laura Gross from Univ. of Ohio at Akron is a visiting professor with us for the academic year. Her PhD is from the University of Vermont.

Worcester State College (reporter To Hansun) Dr. Robert Perry retired from the Mathematics Department as of May 31, 2008. He taught at Worcester State College for 44 years. Dr. Perry was recognized with faculty emeritus status. Dr. Stephen Kunec and Mr. Timothy Hagopian left the department to pursue careers as High school teachers. Dr. Maria Fung joins us after several years at Western Oregon University. Her mathematical interests include mathematics education (primary) and geometry (secondary). Dr. Gabriel Katz and Ms. Eileen Perez join us as full-time instructors for the current year. Kenneth Sanderson, a senior mathematics major, successfully completed a position in the Mathematics Summer Employment Program at the National Security Agency (NSA) during summer 2008.

Yale University (reporter George Seligman) Grigorii Margulis will be giving the Colloquium Lectures at the annual Joint Meetings in Washington in January, 2009. Visiting faculty 2008-9: Ehud Hrswhovski, In-Sok Lee, Yoav Moriah, Nimish Shah, Nikola Lakic.

New Gibb s Assistant Professors: Tullia Dymarz, Matt Feiszli, Marketa Havlickova, Dan Kushmir, Jaejong Lee, Adam Wade Marcus. Professor Bruce Kleiner has been appointed Senior Research Scientist for the year. He will be replaced as Director of Graduate Studies by Professor Gregg Zuckerman. Professor Michael Frame, who has been responsible for important and effective changes in introductory programs, has had to take a medical leave of absence for the fall term. We hope to have him back with us in the spring.

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