[edit] MSCS Current Teaching Faculty:
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Allen, Richard |
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| A native New Englander, Rich graduated from Boston College and received his Ph.D. from Indiana University. During 1984-86 he worked on an intelligent geometry tutor in the artificial intelligence research group at IRISA in Rennes, France. His professional interests subsequently expanded to include use of computer geometry systems in schools both in this country and in France. During 1991-92 and again during 1998-99, he returned to France, to IMAG in Grenoble, to continues his research collaboration on intelligent systems and to participate in interdisciplinary research on the cognitive effects of the use of such systems. His interests have further evolved to include the geometry of Islamic patterns and bioinformatics.His wife, Wendy, is professor of French at St. Olaf. His son, Joshua, and his daughter, Sarah, both graduated from another Northfield college. Rich and Wendy led the Term in the Middle East in 2001-02 and the Global Semester in 2005-06. | |||||||||
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Bolstad, Peder |
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| Peder has taught various combinations of math, music, education, art, physical education, guidance and social science in elementary, secondary, and college settings in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. He has math (1974) and vocal music (1979) majors from St. Olaf and an M.Sc. in discrete mathematics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. (If you're interested in the Oberwolfach Problem, give Peder a shout.) In addition to teaching calculus and "math for poets," Peder is the Analytical Skills Coordinator in the Academic Support Center which affords him the opportunity to talk with students about studying and with student tutors about teaching. He is an avid (sometimes professional) choral singer who has sung with major choirs and orchestras in Sydney, Adelaide, Vancouver, Duluth, St. Paul, and Minneapolis. His few spare moments are filled with photography, S.C.U.B.A. diving, and tennis. | |||||||||
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Brown, Dick |
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| Dick earned his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois/Urbana, then taught for a while at another local college, about a mile from St. Olaf, before ascending the hill in 1990. Dick currently directs the new Computer Science Major and teaches CS courses at all levels. He enjoys playing tennis and (occasionally) his tuba, riding his bike to work, and camping and spending time with his wife Susan, sons Martin and Kevin, and step-daughters Una, Ariel, and Schuyler. | |||||||||
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Corzatt, Clifton |
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| After finishing his B.A. at Northwestern University in 1959, Cliff taught high school mathematics in the United States and in Nigeria with the Peace Corps. He later earned an M.A. from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in number theory from the University of Illinois. His main mathematical interests are number theory, combinatorics, algebra, and problem solving. He is a runner and cross-country skier, and plays hammered dulcimer in an old-timey string band. He and his wife, Diane, have three children between them. All of them are St. Olaf graduates and one of them has a Ph.D. in mathematics. | |||||||||
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Jill Dietz |
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| Jill earned her B.A. in mathematics from Brandeis University in 1986, and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1991. After graduating, she spent four years at the University of Washington in Seattle cultivating the fine arts of espresso drinking and vegetarian dining (oh, and of being a mathematician too). Jill spent one year at Gettysburg College, then finally returned to her Minnesota roots. Her main mathematical interests are in algebra (finite groups, group cohomology, representation theory), topology (knots, topological graph theory, homotopy theory), and convincing undergraduates to do research in these and other areas. Jill also enjoys camping and hiking, throwing pots in her Dad's studio, and crossword puzzles. (2004) | |||||||||
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Kristina Garrett |
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| After earning her S.B. in mathematics from M.I.T. in 1994, Tina spent two years playing amateur rugby and building a non-profit Minneapolis youth center from the ground up. Returning to graduate school at the University of Minnesota, she studied combinatorics and group theory, earning her PhD in 2001. Tina spent four years teaching at Carleton College before coming to St. Olaf. Her main mathematical interests are in enumerative combinatorics (partition theory, basic hypergeometric series and special functions), computational combinatorics, and in encouraging students to participate in undergraduate research. Tina is also an avid racquetball player and rarely misses a Vikings game on television. | |||||||||
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GUNDACKER, ROSE |
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| Rose earned her BA in mathematics from the College of St. Teresa (no longer functioning) and her masters in mathematics from Arizona State University. She has spent the past 35 + years as a high school teacher, most recently at Rosemount High School, retiring last June. She has been actively involved in the AP Calculus program as a teacher of both AB and BC Calculus, and as a reader and consultant for Summer Institutes for new AP teachers. She is active in state educational organizations and is presently working with the state department of education on an initiative to provide subject-matter training for Minnesota mathematics teachers. She and her husband have four grown children living in various places around the world. Rose enjoys reading, walking, biking, and cross-country skiing. | |||||||||
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Hall-Holt, Olaf |
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| Olaf earned his Ph. D. in CS at Stanford University in 2002, then served as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at SUNY Stony Brook before arriving at St. Olaf in Fall 2004. His research interests include computational geometry, graphics, computer vision, and elements of human cognition. Olaf has worked with students on research projects since his days as a staff researcher at the Geometry Center in Minnesota, between college (at Swarthmore) and graduate school. He grew up in West Africa, studied mathematics in Budapest, and has worked in CS from coast to coast. Olaf co-founded the Twin Cities Free-Net, and enjoys playing soccer and ultimate frisbee, learning about first century history, camping in the winter, and spending time with his wife Christy and their daughters Viveka and Annelise. | |||||||||
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Hanson, Bruce |
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| Bruce grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, graduated from St. Olaf (a small Norwegian liberal arts institution in southern Minnesota) in 1975, and finished his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in complex analysis. Besides mathematics, Bruce is interested in playing guitar and singing, language, and almost all sports. His life goal is to beat Dick Kleber in tennis. (2003) | |||||||||
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Humke, Paul |
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| Paul came to St. Olaf n years ago as a Visiting Associate Professor, and found he couldn't leave. His 1972 Ph.D. is from the University of Wisconsin and he continues an active research career in real analysis. He also serves as the North American Director of the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics program, and is a managing editor for the research journal, Real Analysis Exchange. He, his wife, Bonnie, and three children, Kristi, Eric, and Peter, enjoy classical music and are active outdoor people. Kristi has two children and is a pastor. Eric is in the M.D.--Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, and Peter attends Vanderbilt University. (2003) | |||||||||
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Kohnen, Christine |
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| Christine first come to Saint Olaf as a student, where she studied both Mathematics and Statistics, but grew to favor the latter over the former. After completing her B.A. in 2000, she headed to the Southeast to study Statistics at Duke University, and quickly discovered there was more than one way to do Statistics. In 2002, she received her M.S. in Statistics and has recently (2005) completed her Ph.D. in Statistics. Christine has done research on data augmentation and bayesian model averaging, but is currently interested in data confidentiality, especially data sharing, and uses ideas from multiple imputation and synthetic data generation to construct sharing procedures. In her leisure time, Christine enjoys spending time with her family, and doing a little ballroom and latin dancing. (2005) | |||||||||
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Legler, Julie |
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| Julie was recently promoted to Full Professor and continues as Director of the Statistics Program and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research. She involves students in applying their analytical skills to work with World Health Organization researchers both as part of an interim in Biostatistics and Global Health and on additional projects. She earned her doctorate in 1993 in Biostatistics at Harvard. Her daughter, Alison, earned a Masters in Public Policy at the Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the U of MN. Her son, Mark, studies political science at St. Olaf and his younger brother plans to attend St. Olaf beginning in the Fall of 2008. She will be on sabbatical leave for the 2008-09 acacdemic year. | |||||||||
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Malvadkar, Urmila |
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| Growing up in Oklahoma, Urmila Malvadkar was always interested in both mathematics and environmental issues. She was fortunate to be able to combine her interests both in college at Vanderbilt (BS, mathematics and environmental science) and in graduate school at Princeton (PhD, applied and computational mathematics, emphasis: mathematical biology). She studied zooplankton behavior and taught both undergraduates and elementary school student. The latter took significantly more energy. Recently she has been working on an NSF biocomplexity project involving optimal marine reserve placement in the Bahamas. | |||||||||
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McKelvey, Steven |
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| Steve is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Grinnell College. He completed his Ph.D. at Brown University in operations research---more specifically, in the field of network equilibria. In addition to work in large-scale network equilibria, Steve is involved with the mathematical modeling of biological systems, primarily population levels of endangered species. Before coming to St. Olaf in 1985, he held summer positions with the Washington, D.C. headquarters of NASA and the Internal Revenue Service. He has also spent three summers working as an actuarial trainee. Between college and graduate school, Steve spent a year working with the Illinois Bureau of the Budget as a systems analyst. Steve also serves as an adjunct member of the faculty in the College of Forest Resources at North Carolina State University. His leisure time is spent canoeing, hiking, skiing, folk dancing, and supporting progressive politics. For the 2005-2006 academic year Steve is on sabbatical leave at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. (2005) | |||||||||
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Richey, Matt |
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| Matt is originally from Kentucky and received his B.A. from Kenyon College and his Ph.D. from Dartmouth. He came to St. Olaf in 1986 and has been here ever since. His areas of research are Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Computing, and Bayesian Computational Statistics. In addition, Matt has been designed and implemented software for industry and is a consultant to the college's efforts to redesign the student information system. In his spare time (the little that remains) Matt enjoys running, listening to music, and cooking. He is also involved in a life-long effort to correct the commonly held belief that the sacrifice bunt in baseball is a an effective strategic ploy. So far, he has failed. | |||||||||
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Roback, Paul |
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| Paul is an applied statistician, having attacked problems ranging from clinical trials in panic disorder to population models for bowhead whales to indicators of welfare recidivism to the effects of forest fragmentation on birds. He returns to The Hill after a long hiatus; after graduating from St. Olaf in 1989 with majors in mathematics and economics, Paul earned an M.S. in statistics from Iowa State, worked as a clinical statistician for Eli Lilly, earned a Ph.D. in statistics from Colorado State, and taught for several years at both Bucknell and Connecticut College. In addition to applied statistical consulting, Paul's research interests include Bayesian statistics, nonparametric methods, and statistical education. Paul and his wife Karen have three young children--Samantha, Timothy, and Sophie--who keep his office decorated with fine artwork. Outside of his office, Paul can often be found on some athletic court or field, playing basketball, tennis, soccer, and maybe even broomball. Or, he can be found putting his statistical knowledge to good use--attempting to win the coveted Joe Boe Trophy in the Boe Fantasy Football League. (2004) | |||||||||
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SCOTT, JAMES |
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| Jim is a native of southern Minnesota who, after graduating from Macalester College with a mathematics degree in 1996, hung a right turn on I-80 and didn't stop until he hit the west coast. After arriving in California, he worked as a computer programmer in San Fancisco on the Y2K switch. Really. (Insert "Office Space" joke here). Jim finally got his act together and did something constructive when he went to the University of California, Berkeley to get his Master's dergee in Public Health. After a brief stint as a tuberculosis outbreak epidemiologist, he returned to Berkeley and received an M.A. in biostatisics and a Ph.D. in epidemiology (ask me about it!). His research interests include causal inference, computational statistics, simulating the spread of infectious diseases, and statistical modeling. In his spare time he goes backpacking, hiking, and spends quality time with his wife, Kate, and his 1 y.o. daughter, Julia. | |||||||||
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Smith, Kay |
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| Kay Smith received her B.S. from Bucknell University and her Ph.D. from Yale University. Before coming to Saint Olaf in 1980, she taught at Davidson College. Her primary mathematical interests are logic and the mathematics of games. She is married to Arnold Ostebee, another member of the department. When not on campus, she spends most of her time with their children, Kristin and Paul, learning about adolescent development. She also enjoys classical music and baking, particularly anything with chocolate in it. (2003) | |||||||||
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UFFERMAN, ERIC |
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| Eric received his B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois in 2000, and his PhD at The George Washington University in Washington, DC in 2006. His dissertation, competed under the supervision of Dr. Valentina Harizanov, was titled "Structures and Partial Computable Automorphisms." Since completing his PhD, he has been Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics at GWU. When not doing mathematics he enjoys reading, traveling, and playing Scrabble. | |||||||||
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Wallace, Martha |
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| A 1975 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf, Martha earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics education from the University of Minnesota. She spent several years teaching secondary school mathematics before she returned to her alma mater. Now she is in charge of the mathematics education program at St. Olaf, and in the summers teaches mathematics to school mathematics teachers. She is active in state and national mathematics education leadership programs. She and her husband, LuVerne, recently retired as an engineer at a local industry, spend their spare time running a crop farm, doing volunteer work for their church, and watching their grown children and their grandchildren play in orchestra and jazz concerts. Their daughters Jennifer and Alison and their husbands are all educators (three of the four are science graduates of St. Olaf). Son Nate, who majored in political science at St. Olaf, is in the Army. (2007) | |||||||||
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WEIMERSKIRCH, MIKE |
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| Bio Coming Soon | |||||||||
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ZIEGLER-GRAHAM, KATIE |
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| Katie, a graduate of The College of Wooster, earned her Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Katie's public health research interests include injury prevention, limb loss, and most recently Alzheimer's disease. In addition to public health research she is interested in using likelihood methodology to measure the strength of statistical evidence in data. In her spare time time Katie enjoys reading, knitting and quilting. Most of all she and her husband Tom enjoy spending time with their daughter Lucy. | |||||||||
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Paul Zorn |
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| Paul began life in southern India, near the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean; he was educated through high school in Kodaikanal, high in the Palni Hills of Tamilnadu. He was an undergraduate at Washington University in St.Louis, majoring in mathematics and English literature. He did his Ph.D., in several complex variables, at the University of Washington, Seattle, and came to St. Olaf in 1981. His professional interests include complex analysis, mathematical exposition, and textbook writing. For the last five years of the preceding millennium he was editor of Mathematics Magazine. Paul and his wife, Janet, a pediatric occupational therapist, have two daughters, both named for Austen heroines, and both students at (other) Minnesota institutions of higher learning. | |||||||||