MMSS Faculty for 2012
Session 1: June 24 - July 6, 2012
Session 2: July 8 - July 20, 2012
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2012 Program
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Michigan Math and Science Scholars |
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 using exotic nuclear beams, nuclear astrophysics and medical physics. Fred is a recipient of the LS&A Excellence in Teaching Award and has recently served on the American Association of Physics Teachers-Undergraduate Teaching Committee. He often can be found judging science fairs, including the Southeast Michigan Science Fair. His hobbies include fishing, amateur radio, and, of course, magic.
Zhan is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Michigan. He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and did his postdoctoral research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The research in his group at the University of Michigan is focused on the molecular level characterizations of complicated surfaces and interfaces, such as polymer surfaces, polymer interfaces, and interfacial proteins using advanced analytical techniques. Such research provides in-depth understanding of molecular mechanisms of biocompatibility, biofouling, and polymer adhesion. Zhan received his National Science Foundation Career Award in 2004, and his Beckman Young Investigator Award in 2003. He was named as a Dow Corning Assistant/Associate Professor between 2003 and 2006. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, hiking, and traveling.
Mark Conger Mark is a Lecturer and program developer in the Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP.) He received his B.A. degree from Williams College and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. In between his M.A. and Ph.D., he spent several years working as a professional computer programmer, and did lots of programming for fun as well. His research interests are in enumerative combinatorics and probability, but he considers himself a mathematical generalist. His recent work has focused on the mathematics of card shuffling and dealing. For fun he does woodworking and computer hacking.
Glenn is a Professor of Biology and Department Chair of Science at Jackson Community College. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Michigan, where he taught as a Graduate Student Instructor for four years. Glenn’s research focuses on the evolution and ecology of squamate reptiles (specifically snake evolution and origins), and he has a special interest in the philosophy of science and the combination of technologically intensive and philosophically cogent approaches to testing hypotheses of historical relationships among organisms. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, nature photography, travel, and spending time with his wife, son, and their two dogs.
Mel Hochster is the Chair of the Department of Mathematics here at the University of Michigan, the Jack E. McLaughlin Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics, and is a member of the National Academy of 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 college junior and sixteen-year old triplets. Somehow this does not leave a lot of time for recreation, but his hobbies include bridge and cryptic crossword puzzles.
Trace is a 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 the 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.
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 in Genetics and Developmental Biology. She also holds a M.S. in Microbiology from Eastern Michigan University and a M.Sc., in Parasitology from Madras University, India. She is devoted to full time teaching, coordinating the Genetics Lab and the 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 the Ruth M. Sinclair Memorial award for advising in 1997. Santha enjoys teaching, cooking, reading Tamil literature and spending time with her three adult daughters.
Michael A. Jones earned his B.S. degree from Santa Clara University and M.A. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from Northwestern University. After a 3-year position at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a 1-year visiting position at Loyola University in Chicago, he taught for 10 years at Montclair State University in New Jersey. In August 2008, he became an Associate Editor for Mathematical Reviews, a division of the American Mathematical Society. His research interests include the development and application of mathematics to analyze the social sciences, including economics, political science, psychology, and law. He is currently writing a book about mathematics and sports.
Jackie is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences and M.A. in Geophysics from Harvard University. Her research focuses on understanding the nature, dynamics, and evolution of the Earth and Earth-like planets and moons. She conducts experiments to investigate material properties under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Her experimental apparatus are capable of making and breaking diamonds and melting gold and platinum. She probes the composition, structure, and behavior of Earth and planetary materials using laser, X-ray, electron, neutron, and ion beams. In her leisure time, she enjoys yoga, food, movies, walking, hiking, playing badminton, tennis, volleyball, and spending time with curious, creative, and friendly people.
Victor is an Assistant Professor at Queen's University in Canada. He finished his Ph.D. in algebraic geometry at the University of Michigan in 2010. He spends most of his time thinking about one cool type of geometry, namely the geometry of polynomials. Victor is originally from Moldova, and in 2000, while in high-school, he represented his country at the International Math Olympiad, where he won the silver medal. In his spare time he likes to play squash, basketball and tell stories (about geometry and Moldova).resized.jpg)
Kurt is an Associate Research Scientist (Emeritus) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Michigan. He received the B.S., M.S.E, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. Much of his career involved making long distance acoustic propagation measurements in the ocean. When made using multiple transmitting and receiving sites these measurements can be used in form of tomography to measure and monitor heating trends in the ocean. For the last 12 years he has been teaching and supporting the teaching of a senior level major design effort course in hands-on digital signal processing (EECS 452). In 2009 he received the College of Engineering's T. A. Sawyer award for teaching. His hobbies include travel, photography and working with EECS 452 students on their projects.
Dr. Michener is the Associate Curator at the UM Nichols Arboretum and Matthaei Botanical Gardens and is active in the Program in the Environment as well as Museum Studies. David's professional responsibilities are for the endemic to exotic living plant collections and related landscapes managed by the "Arb and Gardens". His work has taken him from Brazil to the Russian Far East. David is active and published in the management of living collections according to museum standards. Currently, he is working to make the institution’s rich resources digitally available to students and researchers. David has been with the University of Michigan since 1990. His undergraduate degree is in botany from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in botany are from the Claremont Graduate School / Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. He spent six years on a NSF-funded postdoctoral position at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. David's outside interests include gardening, fishing with friends, and travel.
Brendan is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Astronomy Department of the University of Michigan. He received his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. His research uses X-ray observations to understand supermassive black hole activity in the distant and local universe. He is also interested in mass transfer in binary star systems and the potential influence of exoplanets upon their host stars. He has taught math, physics, and astronomy courses at the high school and college level. He enjoys reading, sports, and spending time with his wife and young son.
Kristen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics from Bucknell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut. Kristen received the Class of 1923 Memorial Teaching Award and an Excellence in Education Award from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In her research, Kristen studies mathematical problems that arise in finance and insurance, including strategies to help people avoid poverty in retirement. Kristen enjoys movies, reading, and exercising, but her favorite activity is spending time with husband, 5-year-old son, and 3-year-old daughter.
Patrick is a Research Assistant in the Center for Computation Medicine and Bioinformatics. 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 is a 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 interaction processes involving cold, very highly excited atoms (Rydberg atoms) and cold plasmas. In his spare time and vacations, Georg enjoys bicycling, skiing, camping and sailing with his family.
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 their study, the analysis, and the presentation of the results. He has been honored for his teaching of undergraduates.
Sheila is an adjunct lecturer at Eastern Michigan University and an independent consultant for natural resource management and conservation organizations across the country. She received her B.A. from Swarthmore College and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, where she has also served as assistant director of the Ecosystem Management Initiative in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, a lecturer in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and an adjunct instructional consultant for the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Sheila has conducted research in Michigan, the California Channel Islands, and Greece, and her publications range from research articles on the evolution of hummingbird-pollinated plants, to practical guidebooks for natural resource managers, to an animal behavior textbook for middle and high school students. She enjoys learning and teaching all aspects of ecology, especially outdoors, and most of all while 
Wayne is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. He has taught courses on wireless communications systems since joining Michigan in 1982 and this is his research focus as well. He has received various awards for his research including a Presidential Young Investigator award in 1985 and being named an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Fellow in 1997. He has consulted with a number of companies in the area of wireless communication. His hobbies include tennis and travel.
Martin is a Professor in the Departments of Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He received his A.B. degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, both in mathematics. He previously held positions at Iowa State University and AT&T Labs-Research. His research interests include fundamental algorithms, especially randomized and approximation algorithms; algorithms for massive data sets; signal processing and computational harmonic analysis; computer security and cryptography; complexity theory. He has developed an activity for the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum. For the past few years, has been leading the math club at a local elementary school, whose activities include competing in the Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools. In his spare time, he enjoys trail running.
Ramón is an Adjunct Lecturer and Director of the Advanced Physics Laboratories at The University of Michigan. He received a dual B.S. degree in Physics & Mathematics, and his M.S. in Physics from Eastern Michigan University. He participates in research in nuclear reactions at the Univ. of Michigan TwinSol facilities located at the University of Notre Dame Nuclear Structure Laboratory. He has performed research in Optics, Arc Physics, Shape Memory Alloys, and currently has a strong interest in the design and development of particle accelerators. He has taught for over 15 years at the technical, college, and graduate levels; and has also worked for numerous years in industry. He initiated and directed for many years The University of Michigan Physics Olympiads: http://olympiad.physics.lsa.umich.edu/index.html
Dr. Valluri was an undergraduate at Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Rajasthan, India and received her doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She came to Michigan from the University of Chicago, and is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Astronomy. Her research covers a variety of areas in Astronomy but is based on Galactic Dynamics. Some of the topics she works on address issues relating to supermassive black holes in galaxies and their role in the evolution of galaxies; the properties of the mysterious "Dark Matter" that constitutes most of the mass in the Universe; the structure and formation of the Milky Way galaxy’s stellar halo, and how dynamical processes affect the evolution of galaxies in clusters..
Dave is a Lecturer in the Department of Physics. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor for research into the properties of top quark decays. Dave is a passionate fan of the game of hockey and spends most of his free waking moments pursuing the sport. When Dave is not teaching or skating he can be found testing his knowledge of "applied physics" by riding one of the many beautiful (and challenging!) mountain bike trails in Southeast Michigan.|
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