Greg Mader '11, a doctoral student in Biomathematics at N.C. State University, spoke Feb. 24 to a crowd of 32 students and faculty about his life as a graduate student.
Hosted by Elon’s chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon (the national mathematics honor society), Mader’s talk discussed several aspects of his academic journey since graduating from Elon in 2011 with a mathematics major.
Mader encouraged audience members to engage in an undergraduate research project (or several) while they are at Elon, saying the outcomes of such an experience are very beneficial regardless of the student’s post-Elon plans. While at Elon, Mader said he worked on several undergraduate research projects, including working with mathematics professors Todd Lee and Karen Yokley.
Mader cited his experience with his mathematics undergraduate research as his motivation to pursue a doctorate at N.C. State, where he currently focuses on applying mathematical tools to study biological questions. He works on a team with a faculty mentor, post-docs, other graduate students and even a few undergraduate students. Mader mentioned additional benefits of graduate school in mathematics, including the opportunity to present at regional, national and international conferences, an expanded network of collaborators and colleagues, and the chance to earn an advanced degree without going into debt (Mader receives a stipend as a graduate student and free tuition).
To conclude the event, Pi Mu Epsilon faculty adviser Chad Awtrey advertised the honor society’s next event: a special guest lecture from Sat Gupta (UNC-Greensboro) on Thursday, April 5, 4:15-5 p.m., in Duke 302. The event is co-sponsored with Elon’s Statistics Club and is open to all in the Elon community.
Gupta’s title, abstract, and brief bio are as follows:
Title: “Applied Statistics – Some Interesting Applications”
Abstract: In this talk, we will discuss what statistical significance is, and how it is used in real-world situations. Applications will include how to check compliance of some of the quality control specifications mandated by the Food and Drug Administration (USA), proving age discrimination in a court case, and arguing in a court why and how much over-payment to a health care agency by a governmental agency needs to be recovered.
Brief Bio: Sat Gupta is a professor of statistics and associate head in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UNC-Greensboro. He earned a doctorate in mathematics from University of Delhi (1977) and a doctorate in statistics from Colorado State University (1987). He has held faculty positions at University of Delhi (1976-1982), University of Southern Maine (1986-2004), and UNC–Greensboro (2004–present). He has to his credit more than 200 refereed journal articles and research talks, and five edited book volumes. He has guided student research at all levels of the curriculum from undergraduate to doctorate level.