Colloquium speaker to address ‘Fun, Fame with Mathematics’

Dr. Sarah Greenwald will be the final speaker for the Saint Mary’s Women in Math Colloquium Thursday, March 17. Her presentation, hosted by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, will be “Fun and Fame with Mathematics: Spherical Rubik’s Cubes to Cartoons.”

Dr. Greenwald, of Appalachian State University, will speak about careers in mathematics, based upon her own experience as a mathematician. During this presentation, she will draw upon her widely varying adventures in a variety of topics — from Riemannian geometry to pop culture to working on an encyclopedia.

The event is planned for 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Salvi Lecture Hall. A reception will begin at 4 p.m.

Dr. Greenwald is the recipient of the 2005 Mathematical Association of America’s Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching.

This colloquium is supported by a National Science Foundation grant to encourage women to study mathematics.

For further information, contact Dr. Kevin Dennis at kdennis@smumn.edu or Ext. 6650.

Women in Mathematics Colloquium features mollusks

Dr. Judy Holdener of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, will discuss “The Spiraling Art of Mollusks,” Thursday, Nov. 4, at Saint Mary’s as part of an ongoing Women in Math Colloquium.

This colloquium, hosted by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is supported by a National Science Foundation grant to encourage women to study mathematics.

Organizers hope that through these events, high school and college-aged students will become engaged and inspired by the opportunities and challenges presented to women in the ever-progressing field of mathematics.

Dr. Holdener asks, “Are mollusks artists?” Anyone observing the spiraling seashells mollusks sometimes produce might believe they are. In this talk, Dr. Holdener will reproduce the art of mollusks using a fairly elementary mathematical model of seashell form. The model is based on the observation that most shells grow isometrically, meaning they retain the same shape as they enlarge. With the help of the computer algebra system MAPLE, she will then employ iterative models to render the surface patterns commonly found on seashells. In doing so, she will not only apply mathematics to obtain the beauty found in nature, she will illustrate the beautiful nature of applied mathematics.

The event — free and open to the public — will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Salvi Lecture Hall. A reception for Dr. Holdener will begin at 4 p.m.

For more information, contact Dr. Kevin Dennis at kdennis@smumn.edu or Ext. 6650.

Women in Mathematics Colloquium features mollusks

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics Women in Mathematics Colloquium will feature Dr. Judy Holdener of Kenyon College with “The Spiraling Art of Mollusks.”

Are mollusks artists? Anyone observing the spiraling seashells, mollusks sometimes produce, might believe they are. In this talk, Dr. Holdener will reproduce the art of mollusks using a fairly elementary mathematical model of seashell form. The model is based on the observation that most shells grow isometrically, meaning they retain the same shape as they enlarge. With the help of the computer algebra system MAPLE, she will then employ iterative models to render the surface patterns commonly found on seashells. In doing so, she will not only apply mathematics to obtain the beauty found in nature, she will illustrate the beautiful nature of applied mathematics.

The event is scheduled for 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in Salvi Lecture Hall with a reception for Dr. Holdener beginning at 4 p.m.

This colloquium is supported by a National Science Foundation grant to encourage women to study mathematics.

For more information, contact Dr. Kevin Dennis at kdennis@smumn.edu or Ext. 6650.

Kugel, Weiner publish article in chemical education journal

In an example of interdisciplinary collaboration, Roger Kugel, Chemistry Department, and Paul Weiner, Mathematics and Statistics Department, have co-authored an article that appeared this week in the Journal of Chemical Education (web edition). The paper, titled, “Energy Distributions in Small Populations: Pascal versus Boltzmann,” describes a novel way to compute how energy distributes among a small number of molecules. The study promises to have a direct impact on student learning regarding the important concept of energy distribution, and could lead to new insights into the molecular energetics of real nanoscale systems.

The article can be viewed at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed1003838. A print edition of the paper will appear in the November issue of this journal.

First Women in Mathematics speaker scheduled for Monday

As part of the Women in Mathematics Colloquium, Dr. Catherine Crawford of Elmhurst College will speak at SMU on Monday, Oct. 26.

The title of her presentation — scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in Salvi Lecture Hall — is “Stripes, Squares and Oscillons: An introduction to mathematical modeling and pattern formation.”

Patterns appear everywhere in the world — zebra stripes, hexagonal honeycombs, spiral arrangements of sunflower seeds, and the periodic ups and downs of population sizes due to seasonal migration. Dr. Crawford’s presentation will describe how a pattern can be represented mathematically and how basic knowledge of functions and derivates can help determine when and where the patterns will exist.

Analytical and numerical results will be compared with experimental observations. Finally, the connection between the underlying pattern and observation of a single, isolated pulse, called an oscillon, will be described.

A reception for Dr. Crawford will begin at 4 p.m.

This colloquium is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to encourage women to study mathematics.

For more information, contact Dr. Kevin Dennis at kdennis@smumn.edu or Ext. 6650.

Saint Mary’s awarded grant for women in mathematics series

The National Science Foundation has awarded Saint Mary’s a $10,890 grant for a Women in Mathematics Colloquium Series, to be held over the next two years.

The support from this grant provides the funds for the Mathematics and Statistics Department to continue an annual colloquium highlighting successful women mathematicians and to support undergraduate travel to national conferences.

Organizers hope that through these events, high school and college-aged students will become engaged and inspired by the opportunities and challenges presented to women in the ever-progressing field of mathematics.

“This series encourages the recent upward trend of women in mathematics at Saint Mary’s and introduces undergraduate and high school women to role models who are not only successful in their mathematical profession, but also in their lives,” said Kevin Dennis, chair of the Mathematics and Statistics Department. “This project intends to keep inspiring women to pursue terminal degrees in mathematics and also to enhance the SMU mathematics community.”