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Department News, Fall 2007
Faculty and Student
Awards
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Kendra Letchworth has been named the recipient of the
college’s 2007 Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.
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Kendra Letchworth, a senior physics and mathematics major
at the College of William and Mary, has been named the recipient of the
college’s 2007 Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.
The prize is awarded
each year to a William and Mary student for academic achievement in the
sciences and for leadership.
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Kendra Letchworth ('07). By Stephen Salpukas
Ashwin Rastogi,
a junior math/physics major, has been named as one of 2007-08 Goldwater
Scholars.
Kelly Hallinger
and Ashwin Rastogi,
students at the College of William and Mary, have been named 2007-08
Goldwater Scholars. They are
among 317 U.S. sophomores and juniors recognized by the Barry M.
Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
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 Ashwin Rastogi receives elite Goldwater
scholarship
Vladimir Bolotnikov
wins Jefferson teaching award
Vladimir Bolotnikov, an
associate professor in the mathematics department, is the recipient of
William and Mary’s 2007 Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award. The honor is
traditionally part of William and Mary’s annual Charter Day activities.
He currently teaches Math 211, Linear Algebra, and Math 403,
Intermediate Analysis, but several letters supporting his nomination
for the award mention the skill and patience Bolotnikov
demonstrates in getting students over the hurdle of sophomore-level
multivariable calculus, a class he teaches from time to time.
“Professor Bolotnikov has had a profound
impact on my academic path,” wrote Ian Grooms, a former student now in
the Ph.D. program in applied math at the University of Colorado,
Boulder. “I took classes from him for three semesters in a row during
my time at William and Mary. Those three semesters helped convince me
to become a math major and to pursue a career in mathematics.”
Math department Chair and Ferguson Professor Chi-Kwong
Li, in a letter of nomination, pointed out that Bolotnikov’s
interest and dedication extends beyond his William and Mary classroom
duties. He has served as a freshman/sophomore advisor as well as a
primary major advisor and participated in summer Research Experience
for Undergraduates programs funded by the National Science Foundation.
“Professor Bolotnikov is one of the
mathematics faculty members interested in mathematical education
issues,” Li wrote. “In particular, he has given a great deal of help in
the preparation of the proposals and summer courses of the Mathematics
and Science Partnership Grant of Virginia State, 2004-2006.”
A native of Ukraine, Bolotnikov came to
William and Mary in 1998 as a visiting assistant professor. He holds
the Ph.D. from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Past honors
at William and Mary include the 2004 Simon Prize for Excellence in
Teaching of Mathematics and the 2005 Alumni Fellowship Award for
Excellence in Teaching.
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Vladimir Bolotnikov. By Stephen Salpukas
Last modified on 02/21/07 by jxshix
Faculty News
New Faculty members
- Ross Iaci (Assistant Professor). Ross joins William and Mary from the
University of Georgia, from which he received his Ph.D. in 2007. His research area is statistics.
- Jianjun Tian (Paul) (Assistant
Professor). Paul received his
Ph.D. degree from the University of California – Riverside in 2004,
and then spent three years at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute
at Ohio State University for three years before joining William and
Mary this Fall. His research area is mathematical
biology.
- Brown,
Christopher (Visiting Assistant Professor)
- Brown, Jennifer
(Visiting Assistant Professor) Jennifer joins William and Mary from
Kenyon College, where she was visiting during 2006-2007. She received
her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and
during 2005-2006 she was a postdoc at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research areas are
set-theoretic topology and Boolean algebra. In Fall
2007 she is teaching Math 111 (Calculus I) and Math 211 (Linear
Algebra).
- Costas-santos, Roberto (Visiting Assistant Professor)
joins William and mary
from the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid, from which he received a
Ph.D. degree in 2007. His
research areas are Special Functions, Operator Theory and Matrix
Analysis. In Fall
2007, he is teaching Math 112 Calculus I, and Math 490.
- Hagihara, Rika (Visiting Assistant Professor)
joins William and Mary from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, from which she received a Ph.D. degree in 2007. Her research areas are Dynamical
Systems and Ergodic Theory, in particular
Complex Dynamics. In Fall 2007, she is teaching Math 111 Calculus I, and
Math 211 Linear Algebra.
Other Faculty News
- George Rublein is on SSRL leave in 2007-08
- Nicholas Loehr has taken a new position at Virginia Tech
- Tim Killingback has taken a new position at the
University of Massachusetts – Boston
- Sebastian Schreiber
has taken a new position at University of California – Davis
We wish them the best in their new positions!
Faculty Grants
- National Science
Foundation (NSF) launched a national program called “Computational
Science Training for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences”
(CSUMS). The nation’s colleges and universities were invited to submit
proposals describing their ideas about how computational mathematics
should find its way into the undergraduate curriculum. A team of
faculty members from the College’s departments of mathematics,
computer science and applied science recently received a CSUMS grant
from NSF totaling more than $800,000 over a five year period.
Participating faculty members include Sarah Day, Michael Lewis, Chi-Kwong
Li (director), David Lutzer, David
Phillips, and Junping Shi of the mathematics
department, Andreas Stathopoulos and Virginia Torczon
of the computer science department and Greg Smith of the applied
science department.
- Professor Chi-Kwong
Li has received a research grant of $111,868
from the National Science Foundation. The project name is Problems
in Matrix and Operator Theory and the duration is from July
1, 2006 to June 30, 2009. In this project, he will work with
collaborators and students to study problems in matrix and operator
theory arising in different branches of science. The emphasis will be
on establishing connections and stimulating interactions among
researchers in different areas. (Full
project summary at NSF)
- Professors Chi-Kwong
Li and Leiba Rodman are the US participants of
Slovenian Research Agency project: Non-linear preservers. The
co-ordinator of the project is Tatjana Petek,
University of Maribor, Slovenia. The amount of the grant is
1.152.000 SIT (=5890 USD) in 2006 and the same amount in 2007 for the
Slovenian part (travel expenses for Slovenian researchers together
with accommodation and daily costs for US researchers). The project
will enhance the scientific collaboration between William and Mary and
Slovenian universities. Three Slovenian mathematicians visited William
and Mary in Septmeber 2006 for 10 days
- Professor Junping
Shi is one of two co-PIs of a National Natural Science Foundation
of China grant: Applications of singularity theory, generalized
inverse in bifurcation problems and nonlinear analysis. The PI of
the project is Yuwen Wang of Harbin Normal
University, China. The duration is 2007-2009, with an amount of 267,000
Chinese Yuan (about 33,000 USD). The project will enhance the
scientific collaboration between US and Chinese universities.
Professor Wang visited William and Mary in December 2005; Professor
Shi has co-supervised five M.S. students in Harbin Normal University
during 2004-2006.
Faculty Research Highlight
- Professor Leiba
Rodman's book (coauthored with Israel Gohberg,
Peter Lancaster) Invariant
Subspaces of Matrices with Applicationsis
has been reprinted by SIAM as one
of the Classics in Applied Mathematics in March
2006. The original book was published in 1986 by John Wiley &
Sons. Mathematical Reviews for this book says: "This is a superb
advanced linear algebra text and reference for analysts and engineers. The
choice of topics and emphasis is original, and the book accomplishes its
goal of clearly exposing the central role of invariant subspaces in linear
algebra."
   
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