Michigan Math and Science Scholars

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General Program Information

2004 Program

Faculty

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   Structure of the Universe
   Chaos & Fractals
   Graph Theory

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Michigan Math & Science Scholars

Summer Program 2004

BIOGRAPHIES

We our proud to announce the outstanding faculty participating in the Michigan Math and Science Scholars Summer Program 2004. These members of the University of Michigan faculty have experience teaching high school students and several faculty have received the LS&A Excellence in Teaching Award and Golden Apple Award.

Instructors

Kenneth Balazovich
Ken is a Lecturer in the Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Department of the University of Michigan where he teaches Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Immunology. He received his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Miami School of Medicine. Ken's research interests include membrane protein biosynthesis signal transduction pathways in white blood cells, and in signaling pathways in embryonic neurons. He maintains the electron microscope facility for the MCDB Department. Ken has published nearly 30 research papers and takes a keen interest in acting as a liaison between high school students and the University. Ken taught sailing with Great Lakes Sailcraft and has been racing boats since 1975 on the Great Lakes, and also with the Coconut Grove Yacht Club in Miami, Florida.

Frederick Becchetti
Fred is a Professor in the Department of Physics. He received his B.Sc., M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on nuclear reactions, nuclear astrophysics and medical physics. Fred is a recipient of the LS&A Excellence in Teaching Award and has recently been elected to serve on the American Association of Physics Teachers-Undergraduate Teaching Committee. He can often be found judging science fairs, including the Southeast Michigan Science Fair and the International Science Fair. His hobbies include fishing, skiing and, more recently, snowboarding.

Carolyn Dean
Carolyn is a Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. Before moving to Michigan together, Carolyn and her husband juggled her job at the University of Chicago and his job in England as creatively as possible, with Carolyn spending some time in England. Carolyn enjoys hiking, sailing and cooking, and can often be found during lunch playing bridge in the Math Commons Room.

Igor Dolgachev
Igor is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics. His undergraduate and PhD degrees from the Moscow State University. He emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1977. He works in algebraic geometry which might be described as the study of geometry of the locus of solutions of a system of algebraic equations in several variables. He enjoys good food, good wine, bicycling and cross-country skiing but his main hobby is mathematics.

Mel Hochster
Mel Hochster is the Robert and Lynn Browne Professor in Science and Professor of Mathematics, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the Michigan STRIDE Committee that is dealing with gender equity issues in the sciences. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard and received his Ph.D. from Princeton. His research interests might be described as studying solutions of a large number of equations in a large number of unknowns, including their geometry, by techniques related to number theory. He has five children, including one who is grown and is a mathematician, a twelve year old, and six year old triplets. Somehow this does not leave a lot of time for recreation, but his hobbies include bridge and cryptic crossword puzzles.

Trachette Jackson
Trace' is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics. She has a B.S. in Mathematics from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from University of Washington. Trace's research interests involve developing models of tumor structure, growth, and chemotherapeutic control strategies. In addition to mentoring students on career opportunities in math and science, Trace' likes hiking, gardening and cooking.

Santhadevi Jeyabalan
Santha is a lecturer in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB). She received her M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1976, in Genetics and Developmental Biology. She also holds a M.S. in Microbiology from Eastern Michigan University and an M.Sc., in Parasitology from Madras University, India. She is devoted to full time teaching, coordinating Genetics Lab, and Developmental Biology Lab for upper level undergraduates and teaching a Genetics course in Spring terms. She is a recipient of LS&A Excellence in Education award in 1992, 94 and 98. Her ‘cyber fly’ project won a Computer World Smithsonian award in 1999. She is also an academic advisor in LS&A Honors and received Ruth M. Sinclair Memorial award for advising in 1997. Santha enjoys teaching, cooking, reading Tamil literature and spending time with her three grown-up daughters.

David Kausch
David is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is an Associate in the Society of Actuaries. David spent nine years working as a pension actuary in a benefits consulting firm helping clients manage their pension contributions and expense. His current research interests are in optimal investment strategies for pension plans and other retirement savings vehicles. In his spare time, David enjoys spending time with his family, reading, playing cards and discussing history.

Cagliyan Kurdak
Cagliyan is an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department. He grew up in Turkey and got his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Middle East Technical University. He earned his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and did his postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. His area of research is in experimental condensed matter physics with an emphasis in low-dimensional electron systems and nanostructures. Cagliyan likes gardening, cooking, and card games.

Patrick Nelson
Patrick is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. He earned his B.S. from Arizona State University, a M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington - all in Applied Mathematics. Patrick's research areas are in non-linear dynamics, mathematical modeling, and mathematical biology including virology and parasitic infections. His hobbies include baseball, tennis, squash, fishing, hiking and climbing.

Georg Raithel
Georg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics. Georg received his Ph.D. at the University of Munich. In his research, he employs laser-cooled rubidium atoms to study matter waves in optical lattices and in other atom trapping devices, and to investigate collision processes involving cold, very highly excited atoms (Rydberg atoms) and cold plasmas. In his spare time and vacations, Georg enjoy bicycling, skiing, camping and mountain hiking with his family.

Edward Rothman
Ed is a Professor in the Department of Statistics and Director of the Center for Statistical Consultation and Research. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a Ph.D. degree in Statistics from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Maryland. Ed is a consultant with researchers throughout the University, a variety of corporations, and students. He assists people with the design of the study, the analysis, and the presentation of the results. He has been honored for his teaching of undergraduates.

Sheila Schueller
Sheila is a Lecturer in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She received her B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College and recently completed her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. She is interested in the interactions between plants and animals, such as pollination and seed dispersal, and in island biogeography, invasive species, and agriculture. Her graduate research took her out to the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California, to study the evolution of hummingbird-pollinated plants. Her husband, who is a medical resident at the University of Michigan hospital, was happy to serve as a field assistant there. She has also explored nature preserves in Kenya, India, Ecuador and New Zealand. She loves teaching and is a recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award. She also enjoys good food, pottery and walks with her hound dog, Moby.

Carrie Swift
Carrie is an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Michigan – Dearborn in the Natural Sciences Department. She teaches physics and science by inquiry for education majors. She received her Ph. D. from the University of Michigan in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her research is focused on the modeling of relativistic jets, which are found emanating from a range of astronomical objects. She has been involved in the Michigan Spectral Catalogue for many years, which is a classification of some 225,000 stars based on temperature and luminosity. She enjoys family life in Farmington Hills with her husband and two teenage children.

Kathryn Tosney
Kathryn is an Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and did postdoctoral research at Yale University. Her research focuses on embryology and development, particularly the development of the nervous system. She is a three-time recipient of the College of LS&A's Excellence in Education award. Kathryn has published a study guide titled aCross Development that uses crossword puzzles to assist in learning biological terminology. Her outside interests include science fiction, handcrafts, gardening and herpetoculture (raising reptiles).

Alejandro Uribe
Alejandro Uribe is a Professor of Mathematics and former Department Chair in the University of Michigan's Mathematics Department, where he teaches a variety of courses and does research in mathematical aspects of quantum mechanics. Born in Mexico City, he attended the National University of Mexico and obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982. He is interested in a broad range of mathematical topics associated with the quantum theory. During his free time he can be found reading to his two children, playing the Cello or jogging.

Administration

Dan Burns
Dan is the Director of the Michigan Math & Science Scholars Program and is a Professor in the Mathematics Department. Dan is originally from New York City. His undergraduate degree is from Notre Dame University and his Ph.D. from MIT. He works in complex analysis and geometry, but is pursuing mathematical applications in biology these days. He has taught a program on "Math and DNA" in the past summers. Dan is an amateur singer with Ann Arbor choral groups, and enjoys mushroom hunting and working with the local Habitat for Humanity.

Michigan Math & Science Scholars Program
Department of Mathematics
525 E. University; 2082 East Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1109
mmss@umich.edu
(734) 647-4466