Mathematics and Statistics faculty attend and present at the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings

The following faculty members from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics attended the Joint Mathematics Meetings held Jan. 15-18 in Denver, Colorado: Professors Jeff Clark and Todd Lee, Associate Professor Chad Awtrey, Assistant Professors Kristen Mazur, Hwyaeon Ryu and Mark Weaver.

Ryu presented her research talk, “Stability, Bifurcation, and the Emergence of Synchronization and Clusters in Time-Delayed Neural Networks,” as an invited speaker to a joint session between American Mathematical Society (AMS) and Association for Women in Mathematics in Women in Mathematical Biology. She discussed how coupling delays in synaptically coupled neuronal networks affect the network’s synchronized and clustering behaviors.

Ryu also co-organized an AMS Special Session on “Utilizing Mathematical Models to Understand Tumor Heterogeneity and Drug Resistance” in which seven invited speakers shared ideas related to both understanding cancer heterogeneity and its impact on the outcome of treatment.

In addition to research-related activities, Ryu attended a mini-course on Inquiry-Based Learning, supported by a CATL Teaching and Learning Grant, to learn how to implement project-based learning practice into an upper-level course, MTH 445 Numerical Analysis during Spring 2020.

Weaver primarily participated in sessions sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America’s (MAA) Project NExT, a professional development program for new teachers of mathematics and statistics. Weaver worked with three other NExT fellows from his cohort to organize a session on Fostering an Equitable Classroom. Lee was an invited panelist, bringing the view of an equitable classroom being promoted through the explicit use of evidenced-based learning-to-learn techniques. Lee also presented in a special session on SoTL in Statistics and Probability.

Clark chaired a meeting of the MAA’s Committee on Minicourses and monitored three minicourses of the 10 minicourses offered for quality control. Clark also attended a meeting of the MAA’s Section Officers as past chair of the Southeastern Section as well as a meeting of the MAA’s Council on Meetings as chair of the Committee on Minicourses.

Awtrey presented “Automorphisms of 2-adic fields of degree twice an odd number”, which was based on joint work with mathematics major Briana Brady ’19. The talk gave an overview of the new theory and computational techniques Awtrey and Brady have recently published. In addition, Awtrey conducted official business in his role on the Executive Council of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national collegiate math honor society. Awtrey currently serves as the organization’s secretary-treasurer, and at the conference he presented a plethora of reports at their semiannual business, staffed an exhibition booth for the organization, and helped set up and judge the very large and popular undergraduate student poster session (approximately 550 student presenters). The poster session is currently organized by the MAA, but this organizational role will soon transfer to Pi Mu Epsilon; Awtrey has been and continues to be extensively involved in design, implementation, and assessment logistics of the poster session.