Careers in Mathematics Conference

Featuring

• Presentations about mathematically focused career opportunities from leading professionals.
• A panel discussion with professionals in actuarial work, finance, statistics, government, education, and career services.

Schedule

Panelists

• Andrew Bigelow, Actuarial Analyst
• Alanna Clark, Mathematics Teacher
• Steve Forsythe, Actuarial Analyst
• Brian Habecker, Agency Cyber Officer
• Kim Johnson, EHS Specialist
• Steve McClure, Senior Test Engineer
• Michael Motyka, Product Line Manager
• Brooke Ogrodnik, Research Scientist
• Ellen Panofsky, Associate Professor of Instruction
• David Perry, Cryptologic Mathematician
• Margo Sassaman, Career Services
• Patrick Stewart, Assistant Professor of Statistics
• Christina Weaver, Professor of Mathematics
• Jay Wenger, Senior Professor of Psychology

Panelist Biographies

• Andrew Bigelow, Actuarial Analyst
  • Andrew is an Actuarial Analyst at Conrad Siegel in Harrisburg. He provides actuarial consulting services to companies for a variety of their employee benefit plans. He has worked on pension plans, workers compensation, medical benefits, life insurance, profit sharing plans, and other employee benefits. Most of his time is spent on special and non-standard project requests from clients. He also works on internal initiatives to improve procedures and calculations for internal systems. Prior to Conrad Siegel, he worked in a similar role for WTW in Philadelphia. He graduated from Messiah University with a B.S. in Mathematics and is working toward full credentials as an Associate of the Society of Actuaries.
• Alanna Clark, Mathematics Teacher
  • Alanna is a 2012 Millersville Alumnae who has taught locally in Lancaster City for the past eight years. She continued her education at Villanova University where she received her Master of Arts in Mathematics. She has been a part of many committees for the School District of Lancaster and has coached McCaskey’s Junior High Track, been a Coordinator for Link Crew, and an advisor for McCaskey’s Quiz Bowl team. She has taught a wide range of classes from remedial courses to advanced mathematics in the International Baccalaureate Program, and in the past two years, her students have surpassed the world average on their exams. Most recently, she decided to continue sharing her passion of mathematics with even more students by becoming an adjunct professor at Thaddeus Stevens College in the evenings. Outside of school she can be found with her husband, David, and their dog, Carson Nicholas, doing one of their season-changing hobbies: running, snowboarding, hiking, or playing pinochle on the beach.
• Steve Forsythe, Actuarial Analyst
  • Steve Forsythe, B.S. Mathematics, studied at Millersville University focusing on Actuarial Science and minoring in Computer Science until graduation in Fall 2019. He has two years of experience at Cypress Property & Casualty Insurance Company and two years at Milliman on the pricing side of the career. His free time is spent on hobbies founded in health and nature like camping and kayaking. He plans to achieve his FCAS credential in three to six years.
• Brian Habecker, Agency Cyber Officer
  • Brian Habecker graduated from Franklin & Marshall in 2002 and has spent the 20 years since in cybersecurity roles, with time in the Department of Defense, US Secret Service, RSA Security, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Along the way he acquired a master’s in applied Math & Computational Science from Johns Hopkins University and a variety of security-related certifications. He currently works for the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, where he partners with some of the most talented people in the world to help counter and deter cyberattacks. He lives near Baltimore with his wife Nancy and children Quinn and Leo, and runs, plays TTRPGs, or reads comics when time allows.
• Kim Johnson, EHS Specialist
  • Kim is a safety/health/environmental (SHE) professional with over 30 years managing SHE liabilities at industrial/chemical/pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities around the globe. She obtained a BA in Math at Millersville University, a MS in Environmental Health at West Chester University, and the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and Mental Health at Work First Aid certifications. At DuPont, she was instrumental in developing the Fatality/Serious Injury (FSI) and Near Miss programs and was the primary safety related data evaluator and report preparer for corporate reports which included ensuring the corporate SHE data management system was coded and operated appropriately. At Charles River Laboratories, she was the Site Injury/Illness Case Manager and primary SHE related training preparer and presenter.
• Steve McClure, Senior Test Engineer
  • Steve is a Senior Test Engineer and Technical Lead at Google specializing in “Engineering Productivity”, aimed at supporting and enabling fellow engineers to build and maintain their products with more speed, ease, and quality. Before Google, Steve had a 9 year career at MathWorks, starting in 2012 as a Quality Engineer supporting automated testing of MATLAB Graphics and UIs. This role grew into a Software Engineering opportunity within infrastructure, architecture, and tooling, where he added features for the MATLAB Unit Testing Framework and led an engineering team focused on web-based testing. He graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics from Millersville University in 2010, followed by an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Delaware in 2012.
• Michael Motyka, Product Line Manager
  • Mike received his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2012 in the field of Engineering Science and Mechanics with a focus on thin films, semiconductor materials, and metrology. Since then, Mike has devoted his career to the field of measurement science and metrology. In his current role within the Advanced Optics division of Corning Incorporated, Mike runs the Metrology Instruments business as the product line manager. Mike oversees the technical roadmap and the business plan of the product line as well as work with the semiconductor industry to align industry standards and calibration strategy.
• Brooke Ogrodnik, Research Scientist
  • Brooke received a BS in Mathematics and a minor in computer science from Rowan University in 2015. In May 2021, she finished her PhD in Mathematics at Rutgers where she studied Number Theory. Now Brooke works as a Research Scientist at Metron Inc in their Advanced Mathematics Applications Division. Metron is a scientific consulting company which does work in Autonomy, Decision Support, Modeling and Simulation and Sensing Systems. Brooke’s workday includes coding different algorithms in an attempt to cater them to the problems her team works on, as well as pen and paper mathematics and weekly presentations. She also enjoys participating in math outreach and in the past has been a volunteer for The Museum of Math (MoMath).
• Ellen Panofsky, Associate Professor of Instruction
  • Ellen completed her undergraduate education at Millersville University. She went on to complete her graduate studies at Lehigh University completing a PhD thesis in graph theory under the guidance of Dr. Garth Isaak. After compiling her education, she joined the faculty of Cabrini College in August 2008 as an assistant professor. In 2012, she accepted a job as an assistant professor of instruction at Temple University and in 2018 was promoted to an associate professor of instruction. She continues her position at Temple University to this day. Ellen has taught a variety of undergraduate courses and has served as a course coordinator for both precalculus and calculus 2. During her career Ellen has also served in a variety of board positions on EPaDel. Outside of her professional life, Ellen enjoys spending time with her husband Mark and daughters Abby and Lizzie.
• David Perry, Cryptologic Mathematician
  • David Perry began working at the National Security Agency in 2001 as a cryptologic mathematician. As an intern in one of the Mathematics Development Programs, he took a series of required classes while touring in various offices, looking for the best fit. He did research in mathematics and cryptanalysis for two of his tours, then took an unusual tour in NSA’s Center for Cryptologic History, writing a paper on the history and mathematics of the WWII-era cryptodevice called the M-209. His final tour was in an office where he became equal parts analyst, diagnostician, and software developer, and he remains there to this day. He teaches three-week classes in cryptology to students in the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth program each summer.
• Margo Sassaman, Career Services
  • Margo Sassaman, Associate Director of Career Management at Millersville University, is responsible in assisting students and alumni identify their career/major paths. Margo uses various assessments, web-based resources, LinkedIn and alumni networks to help students clarify their career paths. Once the student has identified their career interests, Margo helps the student develop a personal brand, both written and oral communication; develop strategies to connect with potential employers for both internships and employment after graduation; and assist with the graduate school’s application process. Margo has her Ed.S. in Higher Education from The George Washington University, M.S. in Counseling Student Personal from Shippensburg University, and a B.S. in Equestrian Students from Salem University. She has over 30 years of experience in Career Services in Higher Education.
• Patrick Stewart, Assistant Professor of Statistics
  • Dr. Patrick Stewart earned his Ph.D. in Statistics from Bowling Green State University. He received his Master of Science in Statistics from Virginia Tech. He received his Master of Arts in Mathematics with a Statistics emphasis and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Marshall University. Dr. Stewart’s research interests focus primarily on nonparametric statistics and inflated data. He currently teaches a mix of mathematics, statistics, and data science courses. He served as a statistical collaborator across multiple departments while at Virginia Tech.
• Christina Weaver, Professor of Mathematics
  • Dr. Christina Weaver is a first-generation college student who earned her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Mount St. Mary’s University (MD), and her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Stony Brook University (NY). As a Professor of Mathematics at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster (PA), she teaches calculus, applied mathematics, and statistics. She simulates neurons and neural networks to explore how their structure and function change with aging and disease. Before coming to F&M in 2009, Dr. Weaver conducted research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City for six years. She still collaborates closely with colleagues there and at Boston University.
• Jay Wenger, Senior Professor of Psychology
  • Professionally, Jay has been teaching math or psychology for over 39 years. This includes teaching at universities on four different continents. He earned his bachelor’s degree in math from Millersville University in 1976. Then he taught math at a private, parochial school in Lancaster, PA for 10 years. Eventually, he earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Penn State University in 1994. Then he taught and conducted research at the University of West Alabama for 10 years. Currently, he is a senior professor of psychology at HACC: Central Pennsylvania’s Community College. Along the way, Jay was awarded four Fulbright Scholarship assignments to teach or conduct research at Tallinn University in Estonia, Masinde Muliro University in Kenya, De La Salle University in the Philippines, and Loyola College in India. His resume includes 24 scholarly publications and numerous presentations.

Break-Out Sessions

• Gordinier MPR (Education and Research): Clark, Panofsky, and Weaver
• Kline (Education and Resume Tips): Sassaman, Stewart, and Wenger
• Matisse (Industry and Management): Johnson, McClure, and Motyka
• Old Main (Actuarial Science and Healthcare): Bigelow, and Forsythe
• University (Government and Consulting): Habecker, Ogrodnik, Perry
• Lehr (REU/Graduate school): Barnhart, Lloyd, Meyers, O. Hess, Stinchcomb

REU / Grad School Session

Panelists:

• Zachary Barnhart: REU Intern at NC State - Summer Institute in Biostatistics (SIBS)
• Colin Meyers: REU Intern at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Noé Oberholtzer Hess: REU Intern at Montana State University
• Susan Lloyd: 4th-year Graduate Student in a Statistics Ph.D. program at Penn State
• Sara Stinchcomb: 2nd-year Graduate Student in an Applied Math Ph.D. program at Case Western Reserve University

Zachary Barnhart

I am currently a rising junior at Millersville University majoring in mathematics with a concentration in statistics and a minor in data science. I am from Abbottstown, Pennsylvania which is close to Gettysburg. In my free time, I enjoy watching sports, playing recreational sports, reading, listening to country music, and hanging out with friends and family. This past summer I participated in the Summer Institute in Biostatistics at NC State and Duke which was sponsored by the National Institute of Health. The program lasted six weeks in June and July and covered many different topics in the growing field of biostatistics. The experience consisted of lectures, labs, field trips, and a final group project. There were nineteen students in my REU who were from a variety of different places and backgrounds, and we were all housed on NC State’s campus for the duration of the program. The daily lecturers consisted of a mix of professors in the NC State Statistics Department, professors in the Duke Biostatistics Department, and medical professionals who work within the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). In the group labs and final project, we used statistical programs such as R and SAS to do calculations, build models, and construct graphs. The experience overall was both challenging and engaging, and it helped me step outside of my comfort zone.

Colin Meyers

Colin Myers is in his 4th year of undergraduate study at Millersville University pursuing a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Mathematics. His research interests include solid state physics, electronics, thermal physics, and quantum theory. He plans on applying to graduate school and pursuing a PhD in condensed matter physics and a career in lithography. Over the past summer, he completed an internship through the Society of Physics Students that placed him at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. While there, he completed a project studying hydrogenation and the use of diamond as a material in field-effect transistors. This project involved working with vacuum technology, gas-delivery systems, SEM, and XPS technology.

Noé Oberholtzer Hess

Noé Oberholtzer Hess is an 4th year undergraduate Mathematics and Physics student at Millersville University. After completing his degree, he plans to take a gap year before pursuing a further degree in an applied math field, with interests in modeling biological systems and transportation infrastructure. He has recently completed a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at Montana State University, studying the effects of heat treatment on microstructure and corrosion of pure copper. This project was very experimental and hands on, where he learned and used both careful sample preparation techniques as well as an array of imaging and analysis techniques including Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry.

Susan Lloyd

Susan is in her fourth year of a Statistics Ph.D. program at Penn State. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education with concentrations in statistics and actuarial science from Millersville University. Given her interest and experience in the education field, Susan’s graduate research interests primarily focus on statistics education. She is working on a collaborative research project to leverage a human-machine collaboration to improve the feasibility of quality formative assessment at scale. She is also developing an instrument that aims to measure students’ statistical literacy surrounding confidence intervals. She is currently researching how to develop methods to apply topological data analysis to statistics education research. She is completing her Ph.D. research under the guidance of Professors Matthew Beckman and Nicole Lazar. Her career aim is to be a statistics Professor at a primarily undergraduate-serving institution where her focus will be on delivering high-quality statistics education while also having the opportunity to mentor undergraduates in conducting statistics research.

Sara Stinchcomb

Sara Stinchcomb graduated from Millersville University in 2022 with a bachelor's in mathematics and is currently working on her Ph.D. in applied mathematics at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to her classes in graduate school, Sara worked as a teaching assistant in the 2022-23 school year. She is currently a research assistant for one of her professors who is studying mathematical imaging. In her undergraduate studies, Sara participated in an REU at James Madison University studying applications of the power series method to nonlinear ODEs and completed thesis work modeling the deer population in New Jersey and the effects of implementing new policies on hunting deer.

More Information

For more information, please contact Dr. Baoling Ma - baoling.ma@millersville.edu.