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Contents for the Fall 2013 Issue

Please note that the Section no longer maintains the information on the site at Knox College. This is now the site for the most up-to-date ISMAA information.

 

ISMAA  2014 Annual Meeting

 

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA

 

We are pleased to announce that the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA will be held March 28 and March 29, 2014 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, IL.

 

The conference includes the following events:

 

 

 

 More information is available at:

 

http://sections.maa.org/illinois/2014AnnualMeeting.htm

 

From the Section Chair

 

Tony Bedenikovic

ISMAA Chair

Department of Mathematics

Bradley University

309.677.2489

abedenik@fsmail.bradley.edu

 

Dear Friends of the Illinois Section,

Mathematics continues to bring us together.  It was good to see many of you in downtown Chicago for our 2013 annual meeting.  I am glad to say that the Program Committee of the ISMAA is already hard at work planning the 2014 meeting, which will be held March 28 and 29 on the beautiful, wooded campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. From vertical cityscapes to rolling hills, the Illinois Section travels well.  Please make plans to join us in Edwardsville in March.

The number of students at the annual meetings continues to be strong and this is a source of pride for the Section.  Giving students opportunities to engage with mathematics is fundamental to our mission.  One of the best ways to support students is to encourage your institution to become a sponsor of the ISMAA.  All levels of ISMAA sponsorship include free registration for students at the annual meetings, in addition to benefits for faculty and their departments.  Information about sponsorship can be found in this newsletter.   Please do not hesitate to contact me (abedenik@bradley.edu) or Pat Kiihne (pkiihne@mail.ic.edu), Secretary-Treasurer of the Section,  if you would like to discuss this possibility further.  Your commitment to the ISMAA mission by way of sponsorship is greatly appreciated.

I am pleased to officially congratulate Iraj Kalantari of Western Illinois University for being elected to a three-year term as the Ilinois Section Governor.  Those of you who are connected to the ISMAA know that Iraj has been contributing time, energy, and wisdom to the Section for many years.  I am glad that he will continue to do so in his new role as Governor.   At the same time,  my thanks go to Peter Andrews of Eastern Illinois University, whose term as Governor ended this year.  Please look for Peter at the annual meeting and thank him for his service.

As you will read in the Governor's report in this newsletter, membership numbers for the MAA are something of a concern.  In 2008 the MAA had nearly 20 thousand members and today that number is below 15 thousand.  I myself find great value in my membership.  If you are not a member of the MAA, please consider becoming one.  Membership gives access to high-quality publications, like the "American Mathematical Monthly" and the "College Mathematics Journal," and it provides a professional network.  In the Governor's report you will find mention of numerous worthy programs run by the MAA.  For more information about the benefits of membership, see  http://www.maa.org/membership.  If you are already a member of the MAA, please introduce a colleague to our organization.  No doubt most of us are members of the MAA as a result of a colleague suggesting the possibility to us.

The Board of Directors of the ISMAA met this fall on the campus of Illinois State University.   Top on the agenda for any Board meeting is  progress in planning the sectional meeting.  As noted earlier, the Program Committee of the ISMAA has been busy bringing together the 2014 meeting in Edwardsville.   Stay tuned as arrangements for the meeting continue to be announced.  I think we have a great meeting in the works.

Also on the agenda for the fall Board meeting were items relating to the finances of the Section.  To be frank, this is a time that requires particular fiscal caution.  Several measures were passed at the Board meeting to help ensure that the Section remains solvent and effective for years to come.  The Board will continue to take such measures.

In closing, I encourage all of us to keep the ISMAA a part of our professional lives.  A strong, positive mathematics community cannot help but inspire its members. 

 

From the Section Governor

 

Iraj Kalantari

ISMAA Governor

Department of Mathematics

Western Illinois University

I-Kalantari@wiu.edu

 

I have been extended the honor of serving as the governor of ISMAA.  I am grateful and thank the membership for their trust.

My first official duty was to attend the meeting of the Board of Governors at the 2013 MathFest.  Regretfully, I could not attend because of mobility issues (an unexpected knee surgery).  I reached out to Peter Andrews, our last governor, asking him to consider attending the meeting of BOG in my place.  Peter gracefully agreed and I am grateful to him.

Peter was also generous in taking notes and later sending them to me.  After having inspected the documents related to the meeting that I could read on the web, I essentially presented his report to the ISMAA Board at our last meeting (September 2013).  Below, I repeat what are mostly Peter's observations (and his words in many cases, except when imperfect).

• The focus of the meeting was on concerns regarding membership. The charts on the longish agenda, the three figures below, give details. 

MAA Acquisition and Retention F2013.png

Members by Type.png

 

Drop in Revenue.png

 

• We are not attracting new members at a rate to replace those who are leaving. 

 

 • Several focus groups examined (during lunch time) various ideas in different sectors: non-tenure-track, community college, non-academic, extra services we could provide, etc.,and made recommendations. 

 

• The Executive Committee and Committee on Membership will consider those recommendations and will report. 

 

• Ideas already implemented or in the works include:  

- A cleaner membership structure. 

- New website: It is now launched. Please go there as well as point non-members among your faculty. 

- Finalized details for the Membership Plus category: This was approved at JMM 2013 but when the final benefits were set and cost worked out the fee is $20 less than the tentative one voted on at JMM. The Board voted to approve the Members Plus fee and the set of accompanying benefits (print subscription to Math Horizons, up to 3 SIGMAAs, one of the annual T-shirts, one book from a special selection). 

- Identifying key metrics to evaluate membership efforts. 

- Hiring a firm to run four advertising/outreach efforts per year. The firm we are talking to is Marketing General Inc. (They work exclusively on professional associations.) 

- Trying to play up some of the lesser known benefits of membership in the Association: MathDL, Curriculum Inspirations (found under Competitions/Teacher Resources); maybe even focus some section meeting time on these. 

- Making it easier for sections to know who their members are. 

 

• Budget doesn't look any better than in previous years, but there wasn't much discussion or controversy. We made some investments in development staff and the new website but it looks like those expenses were a bit lower than predicted and the payoff may be sooner than expected. In spite of the deficits in the budgets for this year and next year, the Treasurer is committed to getting to a reserve of 40% of operating expenses within 10 years and thinks we are on track to do that. Much of what we do is supported by endowments or restricted funds; so we have plenty of assets, but are steadily eating into reserves. Nevertheless, solvency is not an issue. 

 

• Development: The new director is on staff but it is clear this has not been a priority for some time (maybe forever) and it will take the staff a while to get going. The Director feels we must be sure we have a development program established that will last us long after the Second Century Campaign closes. 

 

• Publishing:   - We did publish 6 new books in spring 2013. 

                                          - Authors should feel encouraged to consider MAA as a publisher.

- Anyone with a book idea should contact Steve Kennedy (who is    taking over for Don Albers) . 

• Website: Please explore the website (http://www.maa.org/) and let John Wyatt (jwyatt@maa.org) know of issues and your ideas. 

• Sections: - The subvention payment for sections will be delayed until annual reports are submitted. 

- $250 will be added to this payment each year if a section officer attends   the meeting. 

                             - Sections can do what they will with that money. 

 

• Less well-known projects of potential interest to the membership:

Updates on Externally Funded Programs

Training the Next Generation of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Professionals: A Workforce Development Project (NSF-DMS)
aka, INGenIOuS (Investing in the Next Generation through Innovative and Outstanding Strategies)

Linda Braddy and Ronald Wasserstein (ASA Executive Director)

The MAA and the American Statistical Association (ASA), in conjunction with the American Mathematical Society and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, just completed a series of online and in- person events to develop strategies for investments in training the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students. The INGenIOuS project (http://www.ingeniousmathstat.org/), under the director of Paul Zorn, engaged members of the mathematical sciences community in six online events and concluded with a capstone 50-attendee workshop July 15-17, 2013, at ASA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Paul will provide an update on this project at MAA MathFest 2013.

Undergraduate Curriculum Guide for the Mathematical Sciences (NSF-DUE)

Martha Siegel and Carol Schumacher

Through MAA’s Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM), MAA has released a Curriculum Guide approximately once every decade. The last such Guide was released in 2004. MAA received funding for three years of research and preparation for the next installment in this important series.

 

Characteristics of Successful Programs in College Calculus (NSF-DRL)

David Bressoud, Chris Rasmussen, and Vilma Mesa

The primary goal of this project is to identify what works in college calculus instruction, to understand why it works, and to disseminate this information to improve student success in calculus.

Phase 1 of the project included nationwide surveys of Calculus I students and preliminary data analysis and has been completed. Using results of the survey and other research data, project team has moved into Phase 2 and is currently analyzing data collected during in-depth case studies on 17 campuses. Dissemination efforts have begun as well.

 

WeBWorK: Improving Student Success in Mathematics (NSF-DUE)

Arnie Pizer, Mike Gage, and Vicki Roth

WeBWorK, a freely-distributed open source online homework system, provides students with immediate feedback about the validity of their answers and gives them the opportunity to correct mistakes while they are still thinking about the problem.

Through this project, the MAA is providing a hosting service for WeBWorK courses so mathematics faculty can gain experience with WeBWorK without first having to have it installed at their home institutions. 

 

Additionally, WeBWorK is being integrated into more course management systems. (See also WeBWorK.maa.org.)

MAA Distinguished Lecture Series (NSA)

Joe Gallian

The MAA is in the second year of this two-year grant supporting the lecture series that began in March 2012. The most recent lecture was "Harnessing Math to Understand Tipping Points" by Mary Lou Zeeman on March 28, 2013; and additional lectures are currently being scheduled for this fall.

MAA Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences (NSF-DMS)

 

Michael Dorff, Joe Gallian, Colin Adams, and Dan Schaal

This NSF grant will last through spring 2014, at a level sufficient to fund 35 to 40 conferences a year. The primary objective of the grant is to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to present mathematical results and to better expand their knowledge of the wide range of theory, history, and applications of the mathematical sciences. The awards are intended to cover a portion of the typical expenses involved with hosting the conference.

Approximately 280 conferences were funded over the past nine years. We expect to have sufficient remaining funds to request a no-cost extension and fund conferences through spring 2015. Please visit the project web site www.maa.org/rumc for additional information.

 

MAA SUMMA Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSA, NSF-DMS)

 

Bill Hawkins and Bob Megginson

This summer (2013) marks the eleventh year of the MAA SUMMA National Research Experience for Undergraduates program. It began with three sites in 2003. We received 22 proposals for summer 2013; 13 sites were funded.

Part of this funding comes from a grant MAA recently received from NSA to support three sites each year. Ongoing NSF funding that supports eight sites per year expires soon; we have begun work on a renewal proposal to NSF. The 13th site was funded via surplus from the NSF grant last year.

The primary goal of the program is to encourage minority students to pursue graduate studies in the mathematical sciences. The program targets students who have completed their junior year at the undergraduate level; preliminary evaluation suggests the primary program goal is being accomplished.

A secondary goal is development of capacity among math sciences faculty to direct undergraduate research and effectively mentor students. The faculty development component of the program is currently being expanded and will be included in the new NSF proposal. Additional details are available on the project website (www.maa.org/nreup).

 

MAA Professional Enhancement Program—PREP (NSF-DUE)

 

Nancy Baxter Hastings, Bill Haver, Jon Scott, and Nate Dean

PREP is funded by an NSF DUE CCLI Phase 3 grant of approximately $1.2 million for the six-year period beginning in 2009. MAA recently received a supplement to support the PREP Poster Session at JMM. Nine PREP workshops will be conducted in summer 2013 with seven of them fully or partially funded by MAA. Information on the program is available on the project website (www.maa.org/prep).

 

Travel Grants for Undergraduate Students to Attend National Meetings (NSA, NSF-DMS)

 

Joe Gallian

The value of student research as an enhancement to learning and a motivation for the continued study of mathematics is widely acknowledged. However, the process is not complete unless there are opportunities for students to present their results and interact with peers from across the country who are similarly engaged in research. Presentation of students’ work at MAA’s national meetings closes the loop for undergraduate research projects, allowing students the opportunity to gain an appreciation for the broader mathematical sciences community.

These travel grants have supported 838 students over the five-year life of the grant. This current grant was scheduled to expire at the end of 2012 but a no-cost extension was granted for 2013 that will allow us to support students through MAA MathFest 2013. A new proposal has been submitted to NSF and is currently under review.

Using Research to Shape Instruction and Placement in Algebra and Precalculus (NSF-DUE)

 

Bernie Madison, Marilyn Carlson, and Caren Diefenderfer

This grant is for developing a new research-based instrument for placement of students in algebra and precalculus. The grant includes funding for dissemination of documented descriptions of sample items from this new instrument. The work is based on earlier research and testing that produced a Calculus Concepts Readiness test (CCR) and a companion Precalculus Concepts Assessment (PCA).

Tensor Grants for Women in Mathematics (Tensor Foundation)

 

Caren Diefenderfer

The Tensor Foundation provided funding for MAA to award Women and Mathematics grants designed to encourage the pursuit and enjoyment of mathematics among female middle school students, high school students, and beginning college students. Grants of up to $6,000 are made to college and university math faculty and their institutions or to secondary or middle school mathematics teachers working in conjunction with college or university faculty for projects that encourage college and university women or high school and middle school girls to study mathematics. Some supported projects are entirely new, while others replicate existing successful programs or adapt components of such programs. For 2013, 14 grants were funded at a total of $72,504. (See http://www.maa.org/wam/tensor.html).


Tensor SUMMA Grants (Tensor Foundation)

Rosalie Dance 

 

This program awards grants to encourage the pursuit and enjoyment of mathematics among middle school students, high school students, and beginning college students from groups traditionally under- represented in the field of mathematics. College and university mathematical sciences faculty and their institutions may submit proposals. Proposals should outline collaboration with secondary and middle school mathematics faculty as appropriate depending on the focus of the project. Approximately 10 grants are awarded each year. In 2013, 13 grants were funded at a total of $75,187. (See http://www.maa.org/programs/tensor-summa.html).

 

Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grants (Mary P. Dolciani Halloran Foundation)

 

Nancy Neudauer

This program, structured in a way similar to MAA Tensor grants, provides approximately 10 grants of up to $6,000 each year to support efforts to reach mathematically talented middle- and high-school students and encourage them to continue to study mathematics. For 2013, 10 grants were funded for a total of $59,996.

 

American Mathematics Competitions

 

Steve Dunbar, Director

 

This report provides an overview of the priorities for the 2013-14 academic year and highlights the primary goal of increasing participation in the AMC 8, AMC 10, and AMC 12 contests. Recent work toward this goal has included creation of new materials for teachers, marketing, innovative uses of technology and increased operating efficiencies.

 

AMC Curriculum Inspirations project and NCTM annual meeting. As part of his continuing work on the Curriculum Inspirations project, James Tanton has posted additional materials online in the past few months (e.g., short videos to supplement written lessons). This project is designed to provide teachers with tools to facilitate the use of AMC contests and problems to support curriculum necessarily focused on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M). On April 20, I introduced James for a workshop presentation at the NCTM Annual Meeting. The topic was “Connecting the Common Core to Mathematics Competitions” and James’ presentation focused on the Curriculum Inspirations series.

 

Curriculum Inspirations features prominently on MAA’s new website and as a K-12 Teacher member benefit. Sample Curriculum Bursts, two-page narrative versions of lessons, appear in all direct mailings to teachers as incentive for contest participation.

 

Interstellar.com tournament. Gaming is becoming more and more popular in society, and AMC is exploring its use in the context of mathematics competitions. In December 2012 and January 2013, 16 schools were recruited to participate in a totally online “NCAA March Madness” bracket-style tournament for high school students. In February, organized into four regional leagues of four schools each, the teams participated in a three-week, round-robin tournament, followed by Final Four playoffs in March. The overall champion was the Academy for Advancement of Science and Technology in Hoboken NJ. It was deemed a huge success based on the students’ tremendous enthusiasm: 100% indicated they wanted to participate again. The tournament got a nice overview in USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/24/math-march-madness-competition/2010875/) and in a Harvard University Education Next Article: (http://educationnext.org/using-technology-to-drive- competition-%E2%80%93-and-change-student-culture/). We will introduce the concept to all schools participating in an AMC contest via an online Interstellar tournament in October and November of 2013 as a supplement to the traditional spring AMC events. Team registration and recruitment is underway. As of this writing, over 500 schools have registered for the fall 2013 tournament and preparation for the fall tournament is well underway.

K-12 Teacher Membership. Steve Coolbaugh visited the AMC office in Lincoln February 4-7 to get an understanding of AMC operations and set the foundation for the K-12 Teacher membership. We are now taking final steps toward implementation and marketing of this membership type. We began including K-12 teacher membership with registration for an AMC competition this summer.

Operations review. On April 8, Michael Pearson, along with Dave Elam and Diane Kelly of BrightKey, visited the AMC offices for an in-depth review of AMC operations. Along with Jason Leibert and Steve Dunbar, all contest aspects were reviewed, including test preparation, registration, fulfillment, scoring, reporting, and awarding for the AMC 8 and AMC 10/12 contests. BrightKey provided a report on their capacity to handle these aspects of AMC operations and will follow-up with a cost estimate and implementation timeline later this summer. In other operations consolidations, the AMC will move its primary databases and fileservers to the MAA facility. Later this year, we will begin to integrate the AMC databases with MAA’s membership information system (Personify). The simplified, easy-to-navigate AMC webpages will debut this summer with the rest of the MAA webpages.

2013 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The 2013 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) will take place in Santa Marta Colombia July 18 – July 28, 2013 immediately preceding MAA MathFest. The MAA-sponsored team to the 2013 IMO is: Ray Li of Cranberry PA; Mark Sellke of West Lafayette, IN; Bobby Shen of Sugar Land TX; Thomas Swayze of Encinitas, CA, James Tao of Hoffman Estates IN; and Victor Wang of St. Louis MO. 

••••••••••••••••

 Become an Institutional Sponsor

Institutional Sponsors:  ISMAA is grateful for its 2013 institutional sponsors: 

 

The financial support from these institutions helped us to put on a great spring meeting in Chicago.

Now it’s time to start thinking about institutional sponsorship for 2014.  Please encourage your institution to join us.  Ordinary sponsorship ($50) includes unlimited free registration for undergraduates at the 2014 annual meeting; sustaining sponsorship ($100) includes three free faculty registrations in addition to the free student registration; and speaker sponsorship includes the three free faculty registrations, free student registration, and listing as an underwriter of a plenary speaker in the meeting program.  To become an institutional sponsor, download the form (Word or pdf) and send it with payment to:

Pat Kiihne

ISMAA Secretary/Treasurer

Illinois College

1101 West College Avenue

Jacksonville, IL  62650

 

Outstanding Undergraduate

Research Award Winners 2013

 

The winners of 2013 OUR Awards are as follows:

 

First Place:  Natalia Poniatowska (Benedictine University)

"Security of a MAC Utilizing the Non-Associative Property of Quasigroups"

Advisor:  Ellen Ziliak

 

Honorable Mention:  Miranda Henderson (Benedictine University)

"The Structure of the State Transition Graph for Boolean Models of Gene Regulatory Networks with Two Feedback Circuits"

Advisors:  Tim Comar and Dan Hrozencik

 

Honorable Mention:  Katherine Hunzinger (Benedictine University)

"Effects of a Grace Period on an Epidemic Model with a Multi-Stage Vaccine"

Advisor:  Anthony DeLegge

 

Honorable Mention:  Elizabeth Meena (Trinity Christian College)

"Arrow Path Sudoku"

Advisor:  Shelly Smith (Grand Valley State University)

 

Congratulations to all award winners and participants!

 

OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

(OUR) AWARDS 2014

The Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America invites submissions for the 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Research (OUR) Awards. Up to three awards will be given for papers authored and presented by undergraduate students at the upcoming ISMAA meeting. Working in collaboration with a faculty advisor, undergraduate students who wish to apply for the OUR Awards should submit the following materials electronically (either as a PDF or MS Word document):

1. a brief, one-page cover letter stating the nature of the project and identifying the researchers involved;

2. a complete, original research paper;

3. a letter of support from the faculty advisor which also describes the student’s contribution to the work.

Submissions may be emailed to Tim Comar, Awards Committte Chair, at tcomar@ben.edu. Please include "OUR Awards" in the subject heading.

Papers need not have been submitted for publication in a professional journal at the time of consideration, but must be complete manuscripts, even if only a subset of the research will be presented at the meeting.

Applicants should make arrangements (see the ISMAA home page) to give a talk in the student session of the upcoming ISMAA meeting. Applicants will be evaluated both for quality of research and for quality of presentation.. The deadline for OUR Awards submissions is March 3, 2014.


Questions? Email
tcomar@ben.edu

Looking for ISMAA Awardees

 

The ISMAA Awards Committee has extended the deadline for the section Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Service awards to February 27, 2014. This is to enhance the likelihood of having section awardees this year. The section awardees will be presented at the ISMAA annual meeting, held at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville March 28 – 29, 2014. We strongly encourage all members to take the time and nominate a colleague worthy of the awards.

For the guidelines on eligibility and nomination please visit the MAA Teaching Award web page. Questions about the ISMAA awards should be addressed to the ISMAA Awards Committee Chair Tim Comar at (tcomar@ben.edu).

Illinois Section of the MAA

ISMAA Project NExT Program

Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program of the MAA, with major funding provided by the Exxon Education Foundation, and additional funding from several other sources. This program is designed to support new college faculty in their teaching, scholarly, and professional activities and and to help these new faculty members to get involved in the mathematical community beyond their own institutions.

The success of Project NExT on the national level has prompted a number of MAA sections to organize their own local versions of this program. The Thirteenth Annual ISMAA Project NExT Program will be held in conjunction with the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA will be held March 28 and March 29, 2014 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, IL.

Up to nine 2014 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows will be selected. Anyone within their first four years of teaching mathematics (after finishing a master's or doctoral degree) at any two or four-year college or university in Illinois is eligible, as well as any graduate students at universities in Illinois who are completing their PhD this year and have a position in Illinois for the 2014-2015 academic year. 2014 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows' meeting registration, pre-conference workshop registration, opening banquet fees, and Friday and Saturday lunches at the annual meeting will be paid for by the ISMAA Project NExT for the 2014 and 2015 ISMAA Annual Meetings.

The 2014 Program will begin on the morning of Friday, March 28, 2014 with the conference workshop. The workshop is followed by an opening lunch at which new ISMAA NExT fellows will have an opportunity to get to know one another as well as other sectional Fellows and national NExT Fellows. The ISMAA Project NExT program will conclude on the afternoon of Saturday, March 29, 2014, following the closing address of the ISMAA meeting. After a brief box lunch, the group will reconvene for a session devoted to professional development opportunities in the ISMAA and the MAA. This year we will match new ISMAA NExT Fellows with a Mentor at the meeting. It is expected that each Mentor-Fellow pair will continue to communicate about professional development issues throughout the following academic year.

Application materials for 2014 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows can be accessed via the links below. For further information, please contact the Director for the ISMAA Project NExT Program:

2014 ISMAA Project NExT Application (MS Word)

2014 ISMAA Project NExT Application (pdf)

Cindy Traub
Department of Mathematics
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

cindytraub@gmail.com

 

The registration deadline for the 2014 ISMAA Project NExT Fellows is February 28, 2014.

News from Around the Section

 

Elgin Community College

The Elgin Community College Math Department is pleased to introduce our new colleague, Greg Wheaton.  Greg holds a MS degree from NIU in Pure Mathematics and has taught most recently at Kishwaukee College.  His hobbies include running and playing guitar.  He is married to Kim and they have two children, Lucy and Auggie.  Greg released his first acoustic fingerstyle guitar album last December 2012, and is also looking to publish some research and ideas involving audio pitch functions.  Welcome and congratulations, Greg!

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)

 Dr. Sonja Petrović joined IIT as an assistant professor of applied mathematics in August 2013.

Dr. Xiaofan Li was promoted to full professor of applied mathematics, and Dr. Igor Cialenco was given tenure and promoted to associate professor of applied mathematics, both in May 2013.

 

The Department of Applied Mathematics has launched two new professional masters' programs, one in applied mathematics, and the other in data science (in cooperation with the Department of Computer Science).

 

North Central College

 

NCC welcomes a new tenure-track faculty member this fall:

 

Marco Martinez, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Bachelor of Science in Biology, 2005; Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, 2007, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Master of Science in Statistics and Ph.D. in Mathematics, 2013, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Marco’s dissertation title was Optimal Control of the Invasive Pest Gypsy Moth.

 

Dr. Matthew Pons was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor of Mathematics effective September 2013. His real analysis text will be published by Springer-Verlag in the near future.

 

The department hosted the AMC 8, 10 and 12 exams this past academic year.  We had 75 students take the AMC 8, 60 take the AMC 10 and 25 take the AMC 12.  We had about 15 students qualify for the AIME.  We held a one week camp this summer aimed at preparing students for the AMC 8.  It sold out at 22 students!  For information about hosting the AMC exams contact the AMC or Rich Wilders (rjwilders@noctrl.edu). It's a great way to get potential math majors on campus.

 

This year, North Central College is offering its first yearlong math circle, funded by a Mathematical Association of America Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grant.  Title "E^2 (Expository Engagement)," the program brings together 25 mathematically interested and advanced high school students 16 times throughout the academic year.  At each session, a speaker presents on a topic that the students probably have not seen, followed by group problem solving sessions, mentored by North Central College undergraduates, over problems related to the presentation topic.  Some of the topics the students will see this year include mathematical modeling, chaos and dynamical systems, probability and the birthday problem, and the mathematics of square dancing.  If you have any questions about the math circle, you can contact either of the project co-directors: Dr. Katherine Heller (kheller@noctrl.edu) or Dr. Neil R. Nicholson (nrnicholson@noctrl.edu).

 

Rockford University

Dr. Filiz Dik, Associate Professor of Mathematics, has been nominated for the 2013 U. S. Professor of The Year Award, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education & the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dr. Mehmet Dik has been promoted to full professor.

As of July 1, 2013 Rockford College officially became Rockford University.

We combined the three Departments Math, Computer Science & Physics into one unit, which is now named as the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science & Physics chaired by Dr. Mehmet Dik.

The Rockford University Math Program is experiencing a record number of majors and minors (well over two dozens).

Trinity Christian College

The Mathematics and Computer Sciences Department of Trinity Christian College announces that Dr. Jeff Nyhoff has joined the department as associate professor of computer science.   The department is also pleased to announce that Dr. Mandi Maxwell has been granted indefinite tenure and promotion to professor of mathematics.