Credits
There has been a change in the administration of the Department since this past summer.
Effective July 1, 1994, Professor Craig A. Tracy was appointed as the Chair of the
Department. He then appointed Professor G. Thomas Sallee as the Vice Chair for
Undergraduate Affairs, and Professor Joel Hass as the Vice Chair for Graduate
Affairs.
The Department wishes to express its warm gratitude to the Outgoing Chair Professor
Henry Alder and Former Vice Chair Professor Angela Cheer for the superb jobs they did
for the Department during the past two years. The period they served was a particularly
difficult one because of the severe budget situation and uncertainty in the campus
administration. Alder and Cheer not only successfully maintained the daily departmental
business, but also won admiration, support and confidence from the higher administration.
The Department remembers them as the administrators who served it well when no one else
wanted to assume the responsibility given to them.
This year's George B. Dantzig Prize was awarded to Professor Roger J.-B. Wets for his
leadership role in the field of stochastic optimization, and his pioneering work in the
development of the approximation theory for infinite dimensional problems. The Dantzig
Prize is an award sponsored by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the
Mathematical Programming Society for original research having major impact on the field
of optimization. In the optimization field it is the highest honor that is awarded. The
specifications of the Dantzig Prize say that the impact should be both at the theoretical and
computational level, and should have significant implications as far as practical applications
are concerned.
The official citation reads: "Roger J.-B. Wets is recognized as the leading figure in the area
of stochastic programming. His research on the theoretical underpinnings of the subject
includes fundamental studies of the geometry of the solution set, the properties of the value
function, conditions for existence and stability of optimal solutions, and the structure of
dual problems. One of the key insights is that stochastic programs have an additional
multiplier type that does not arise in deterministic models. On the algorithmic side, his
contributions include the basic and fundamental L-shaped method, a very efficient method
for the simple recourse problem, and the recent progressive hedging algorithm. These
methods have been used effectively in a variety of applications, and their use is expanding
as computational power to handle such large models grows. The last method mentioned
exhibits considerable scope for exploiting parallelism. Through the analysis of statistical
properties of optimization problems depending on random variables, including generalized
laws of large numbers, he has laid a foundation also for solution methods that rely on
sampling. One of the techniques he devised for approximating infinite-dimensional
problems (the concept of epi-convergence) is emerging as a basic tool in areas like semi-
infinite programming and optimal control with complicated dynamics. He has also been
very active in applications ranging from the environment (lake pollution) to finance
(asset/liability management)."
A pleasant shock wave hit the Department earlier this year. The John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation has announced the selection of 147 artists, scholars, and scientists
from among 3,157 applicants for Guggenheim Fellowship. Guggenheim Fellows are
appointed on the basis of unusually distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional
promise for future accomplishments. There are only four mathematicians among this year's
fellows, including Professor J. Blake Temple.
Temple was awarded the Fellowship for his research on multi-dimensional shock waves
and gravitational collapse in general relativity. He gave the following message to the
Newsletter upon the Editor's request:
"I would assess the work as follows: we have an exact shock wave solution of the Einstein
equations modeling an explosion, and a general theory that describes how to attach any
static, spherically symmetric solution of the Einstein equations to the Robertson-Walker-
Friedmann solution across a shock wave interface. This procedure removes the
singularities at r = 0 when they appear in the static, outer solution. The exact solution is an
explicit solution of these equations that applies when the outer solution is a static, singular
isothermal sphere. In this solution, the big bang in the R-W-F solution occurs as the shock
wave blasts out of the origin, and thus we have a scenario by which the big bang begins
with a shock wave explosion. It is remarkable that we can assign an arbitrary sound speed
to the outer fluid, and the shock moves at a finite speed less than the speed of light, all the
way back to the initial big bang. Christodoulou [a Princeton professor and a 1993
MacArthur Fellow who is considered to be the authority of general relativity] gave us a
scenario for star formation that parallels our exact solution. My impression, however, is
that the real astrophysicists do not believe that this suggests a new model for the universe,
but I have not heard an absolutely definitive reason for this yet! By the way, the young
people [working in the field] have been extremely interested [in my work]," he then added,
"but please don't publish this!"
The other three mathematicians among this year's Guggenheim Fellows are: Senior
Professor Joan S. Birman of Columbia University (knot theory), Fields Medalist Michael
H. Freedman of UC San Diego (4-dimensional topology), and the 1993 Cole Prize winner
Karl Rubin of Ohio State University (number theory). We are proud of Temple being
counted as one of the superstars of the nation, and wish his new waves of research
propagate widely to the mathematical world. Congratulations, Blake!
Professor Abigail Thompson received an NSF Career Advancement Award this year. The
Award has been created recently by the National Science Foundation, which is committed
to enhancing the current rate of participation of women in science and engineering careers,
in general, and as active participants in all of its programs. The goal of this effort is to
support activities that can expand a promising applicant's research career potential. For
example, investigators may seek support for developing new skills in an area that will
expand their research programs. With this grant, Thompson will conduct research in the
border area between low-dimensional topology and geometry, using the concept of thin
position. This is a new and extraordinarily useful tool in knot theory, and its geometric
analogue has great promise. Most interesting is the close relation this idea suggests between
knot theory and piecewise linear minimal surface theory. The grant will make it possible for
her to learn minimal surface theory, which she plans to apply to her own research project,
knot theory.
Professor Emeritus Washek F. Pfeffer has received a Fulbright grant to lecture at Charles
University in Prague during the 1994/95 academic year. Last fall he published a research
monograph titled The Riemann Approach to Integration from the Cambridge University
Press.
Our faculty members have been very successful in obtaining research support from outside
the campus. The following is the list of extramural research grants received during the 1993
and 1994 fiscal years.
Roger Wets: National Science Foundation
Professor G. Thomas Sallee received a 1994 Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching
Award.
The official citation by Professor Stephen Whitaker, Chair of the
Committee on Distinguished Teaching Awards, reads:
Professor Tom Sallee, Department of Mathematics, has taught mathematics at UC Davis
for nearly three decades. During that time he has guided the passage of
many students through their initial fears of advanced mathematics to successful careers as
teachers and users of concept of mathematics. From his classes there have emerged a
continuous stream of students who have gained a degree of self-confidence that might well
have meant the difference between success and failure. This has come both from
Professor Sallee's exceptional teaching skills and from his deep concern for the welfare of
his students. He has served as their coach, their mentor, their teacher, and their concerned
friends. His devotion to the entire mathematics program is evident by the fact that he is the
only tenured or tenure track faculty member to receive the annual Departmental Award
for the "Best Teacher of Lower Division Mathematics." ...
In addition to his involvement in the
teaching of mathematics at UC Davis, Professor Sallee has made significant contributions
to the teaching of mathematics at the K-12 level. This is the effort that began in the early
1970s and led to the co-authorship of the book, Make It Simpler: A Practical Guide for
Teaching Problem Solving, which was directed toward mathematics instruction in
grades 5-7.
Since that time he has participated in the Northern California Mathematics Project,
he has been the co-chair of the Joint UC/CSU Task Force on Reform on Remedial
Mathematics Education, and he is currently the principal investigator of a
National Science Foundation project to redesign the standard Algebra I,
Geometry, and Algebra II sequence that is followed throughout the country
in the high schools.
Professor Sallee has provided distinguished teaching to literally thousands of students
on the Davis campus, and his devotion to art of good teaching has spread infectiously far
beyond the campus.
Dr. Carole Hom, Lecturer of Mathematics, won the 1994 Excellence in Teaching Award of
the Academic Federation. This is a considerable honor because only at most one award is
made each year. A reception hosted by the Department followed her lecture, Calculus,
Modeling, and Teaching: Whaddya Do After You Get `The Answer'?
The eighth position of the Research Assistant Professorship at UC Davis has been filled
with a numerical analyst Dr. Xun Jiang of the University of Maryland. He and Yingchen Li
were classmates at the same college back in China.
by Joel Hass,
Professor of Mathematics and
Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs
Graduating students: Five students received PhDs in the last academic year, three
finishing students received Master's degrees and two received MAT (Master of Arts in
Teaching) degrees. Congratulations to them all.
Wendy Brunzie wrote a thesis in dynamical systems with Dmitri Fuchs titled "Dual
Billiards." She will start a position at Montana State University this Fall. Daniel (Deej)
Heath wrote a thesis on 3-dimensional manifolds with Abigail Thompson. Deej took a
Postdoctoral fellowship in Japan, which he is spending at Nara Women's College in the
Osaka area. These prestigious fellowships are run jointly by the National Science
Foundation and the Japan Society for Promotion of Science. Lisheng Gao finished her
doctoral work under the supervision of Michael Buonocore in the mathematical theory of
magnetic resonance imaging. She is currently working in the Department of Radiology at
UCD Medical Center. Adib Bagh, who worked with Roger Wets on optimization, wrote a
thesis titled "Epigraphical analysis and convergence of sets." Sam Brannen, who worked
with Don Chakerian in convex geometry, completed a thesis on "The Wills Conjecture."
Kirk Wardlaw worked with Melven Krom in logic, and produced a thesis on "Numbers
and propositional functions based upon generalized Boolean Rings." Adib, Sam and Kirk
have each obtained a one-year lecturership at UC Davis.
Elyon Dekoven, Eric Schadt and Norman Walker finished their MA degrees this year.
Elyon will be spending the coming year studying in Jerusalem, Israel. Eric has entered a
combined MD/PhD program at UCLA. Norman has taken a position with the Learning
Skills Center at UC Davis.
Jennifer Dance and David Schoenberger completed the MAT program. As always, demand
for graduates of this program was very high. Jennifer has taken a teaching position at a
private High School near Pasadena, and David will be continuing his studies at the
University of Nevada at Reno.
New students: There were about eighty applicants to the graduate programs in
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, and we are expecting 18 new students this fall. The
quality of applicants was high, as Davis' worldwide reputation continues to rise. This
year's new students include holders of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
and a Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship. The breakdown by program is the following:
Mathematics: There were about 40 applications, and 16 students were admitted.
Ten have accepted, of which eight are in the PhD program, one in the MA program, and
one in the MAT program.
Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics: There were also approximately 40
applications, and 12 students were admitted. Eight have accepted.
Kurt Kreith, despite his retirement under VERIP III in 1994, has generously volunteered to
coordinate recruiting efforts for the Mathematics graduate programs. Kurt's initial efforts
include having faculty members give talks aimed at undergraduates at California colleges
and universities that form the main recruiting pool for UC Davis. Input and suggestions on
graduate recruitment are welcome from all of you - contact Kurt Kreith or me.
Graduate Courses/Seminars: In 1993/94 we continued our weekly research
seminars on geometry/topology and analysis, as well as weekly colloquia in each of Pure
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. A new tradition that seems to be developing is that
a large number of faculty and graduate students are going to Sudwerks, the local Davis
brewpub, following the Friday afternoon analysis seminar. Presumably they are continuing
the mathematical discussion over a meal of Sudwerks' famous sausages.
We had the first full year of our revamped class in the teaching of mathematics, MAT 390.
Taught by Allan Edelson, this course gives new students an opportunity to get in front of
their colleagues to demonstrate their teaching techniques, visit the classrooms of
outstanding lecturers, have their lectures visited and critiqued and to hear presentations on
aspects of teaching from various campus-wide experts. One new class will start this
academic year, MAT 261A, Lie groups and their representations. In addition, there was a
reorganization of some of the introductory courses in analysis. An ongoing effort is
underway to examine all of the Department's offerings and to see how they fit in with the
leaner environment that we are now facing.
The following advanced courses on current research areas were given in 1993-94:
B. Temple - General relativity and shock waves
Jobs: Demand for graduate students in Mathematics is coming from an increasing
number of areas, as one would expect in a world where information based technology is
exploding. Wall Street is hiring mathematicians to work with financial instruments called
derivatives, whose complexity requires advanced mathematical skills. Other areas of
mathematics are playing central roles in telecommunications, banking and insurance. In
academics, the tight nature of state budgets has led to contractions at many of the large
public universities, with a very tight job market resulting. Nationwide unemployment of
new PhDs is at an all time high, and this has been recognized widely as constituting a crisis
which the mathematics community must face. We are continuing to work on developing
our placement ability in both academic and non-academic areas to help meet this problem.
Entering and continuing students are given information on the job market and how their
choice of fields may affect their prospects. We would like to hear from former Davis
students about areas they work in where mathematical skills are applied. We would
especially like to hear from those who work with companies who would be interested in
receiving job applications from our graduates. In a future Newsletter we would like
to summarize where our past graduate students have gone. Please write us a brief update if
you would like to be included.
We hope that all of you will help the graduate program by talking about our Department to
prospective graduate students. We have booklets which describe the Mathematics and
Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics programs, and would be happy to make these
available to any of you. If anyone has suggestions on how to improve some aspect of our
graduate program, drop me a note, or send an e-mail to:
hass@math.ucdavis.edu
At the Annual Departmental Award Ceremony on June 2, 1994, the Department awarded
the second William Karl Schwarze Scholarships in Mathematics. The scholarships were
made possible by a bequest in the amount of $10,000 annually made to the Department by
William Karl Schwarze who received his bachelor's degree in our Department and
subsequently became a high school teacher of mathematics in San Francisco. Mr. Schwarze
remembered his studies in the Department with such fondness that he decided to leave
funds for students in our Department who demonstrates outstanding mathematical
scholarship and exceptional promise of making a strong professional contribution as a
mathematics teacher and educator at the pre-college or undergraduate college level. The
presentations were made by Dr. Robert O. Crummey, then Dean of the College of Letters
and Science. The two recipients of this award, each of whom received a $10,000
scholarship, were Michella R. Hopkins (MAT program, degree expected in June 1995),
who plans to teach at the high school level, and Masato Kimura (PhD program, degree
expected in June 1995), who plans to teach at the college level.
The University awarded 52 students a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics this past academic
year. Among those who distinguished themselves were Departmental Citation winners
James Primbs, John Miller and Thomas Kerruish. In addition, Primbs and David Peacock
graduated with Highest Honors in Mathematics. The winners of the 1994 Spring
Mathematics Contest are: Fei Teng Ma and Matt Nelson (First prize), Bradley Ballinger
(Third Prize), and John Miller and Daniel Schlessinger (Honorable Mention).
Congratulations to them all!
The first Robert Lewis Wasser Prize, in the amount of $500, was awarded at the Annual
Departmental Award Ceremony by Dean Crummey. It was made from funds received from
the endowment of the Robert Lewis Wasser Memorial Fund in excess of $10,000 named in
memory of Robert Lewis Wasser, a junior student in our Department, tragically killed in a
car accident on September 11, 1993. The prize is awarded to the winner of the Robert
Lewis Wasser Memorial Contest conducted annually for freshmen and sophomore students
at Davis. The first contest was held on May 5, 1994. Twenty-six students participated. The
winner, who received an almost perfect score on this very challenging contest, was Gabriel
James Moreno, a sophomore student majoring in Electrical Engineering, but as a result of
his success in this contest, giving serious consideration to majoring also in mathematics.
The prize was handed to him by Mrs. Vera May Wasser, Robert's grandmother, the
initiator and main contributor to the Fund. In addition, the following students received
Honorable Mentions: Allen Tung, Larry Tzu-Chiao Chen, and Philip N. Truong.
This year's Lawrence J. Andrews Prize of the College of Letters and Science was awarded
to Nancy Heinschel, currently a senior student majoring in mathematics. The prize is
awarded annually to the best junior student of the campus. She was also selected as one of
the ten invited participants of the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate Program at
Oregon State University during the summer.
Anne Haney, also a senior student majoring in mathematics, received the Sierra Nevada
Regional Soroptimist Training Award. She was an invited participant of the Mills College
Summer Mathematical Institute held in Berkeley, and also won the University Farm Circle
Marion Freeborn Re-entry Scholarship.
The newly created position of Undergraduate Peer Advisor in Mathematics has been filled
with Kristina Dance, a senior student in mathematics. She offers advice to students on the
mathematics curriculum and helps those who have difficulty talking to scary
professors.
Lawrence Marx was named as the Outstanding Instructor of Lower Division Mathematics
Courses at the Annual Departmental Award Ceremony in June.
Janko Gravner put together a spectacular Mathematics Awareness Week in April. This is a
nationwide event sponsored jointly by the American Mathematical Society, the
Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics. During the week, the UCD Bookstore offered a 10% discount on all
mathematics books, thanks to the initiative of John Thoo. The Pi Mu Epsilon and Math
Club organized movie and video shows and skits. There were also enjoyable and excellent
talks by Tom Davis (Mathematics at Silicon Graphics), Rudy Rucker (Stalking Artificial
Life), and Amelia Jones (Links and Knots). In the last talk, a video was presented, where
all the audience felt dizzy looking into the hyperbolic world.
Motohico Mulase won the campus nomination for the 1993 Presidential Faculty Fellow
Award. Each university can nominate up to two faculty members for the half-a-million-
dollar Fellowship. Mulase was on the short list consisting of 48 scientists from all the
natural and social science disciplines, among which 15 scientists (including only one
mathematician from Wisconsin), together with other 15 engineers selected separately,
received the award from President Clinton earlier this year.
by Henry Alder,
Professor Emeritus and Former Chair
It was wonderful to receive so many responses from you, our alumni, in response to the
Department of Mathematics' first issue of the Newsletter, sent to you last Fall. We
were pleased to learn of the many successful careers you have entered and which you are
enjoying. We are glad that so many of you felt that the preparation you received in our
Department has prepared you well for these careers. Since many of you indicated that you
would like to know what your friends are doing, all information which you supplied to us
on your careers is included in the alumni news in this issue provided you checked in last
year's "Alumni News and Update Forms" the item allowing us to use the "news about
yourself and others" in the next issue of the Newsletter.
On June 18, 1994, we had a reception and buffet dinner for our bachelor degree recipients,
continuing the tradition set by the first such event organized by Allyson Angus (now
Stewart) and her parents at the time of her graduation in 1987. Following the model
established by her, these events are now organized by our Department and Pi Mu Epsilon
under the direction of Evelyn Silvia. This event has become very popular with our
graduating seniors and their families, resulting this June in the largest attendance we have
had so far. It has also become a tradition to have a graduating senior speak at this event.
This year it was Stephen Messano, President of the Math Club. It was a very pleasant
surprise to me that he presented me with a gift on behalf of the Math Club "for all I had
done for undergraduate education in the Department."
A luncheon for graduate students who received their graduate degrees last year was held on
June 9, 1994, in the Department under the direction of Joel Hass, Vice Chair for Graduate
Affairs.
The Department suffered a grievous loss when Professor Albert C. Burdette died on May
27, 1994, at the age of 89. He joined the Department as one of its earliest members in
1936, along with Professor W. Berggren and Professor Edward B. Roessler, and retired in
1971. He was a highly regarded teacher and wrote two widely used texts for lower division
mathematics courses; perhaps the most well-known at UC Davis was "An Introduction to
Analytic Geometry and Calculus."
At the end of the academic year, five additional faculty members took early retirement,
namely Professors G. Don Chakerian, Doyle O. Cutler, Kurt Kreith, Washek Pfeffer, and
Howard Weiner. Clearly, the retirement of these distinguished members of our faculty
represents a serious loss to our Department. A party honoring the achievements of these
five retiring members was held on June 14, 1994 at the University Club in Davis. One or
more speakers gave highlights of the many valuable contributions each of these five
members had made to the Department, the campus, and the profession. To my complete
surprise, after honoring these five, Professor David Mead made some very flattering
comments on the occasion of my own retirement. Fortunately, two of the five retirees,
Kreith and Weiner, have agreed to be recalled to teach during the current academic year. I
will also continue to teach.
The new academic year just starting brings a number of changes in the administration of
our Department, namely beginning this Fall, Craig Tracy is the Chair. He has earned an
enviable record in research, teaching, and service in the Department. It is a pleasure to
know that the Department will be in good hands under his leadership.
We hope you find this Newsletter as valuable as you did the first one judging from
your many enthusiastic comments, "I really enjoyed receiving the Newsletter" was
a frequent comment. Another version was "The Newsletter is fantastic and
informative! Please feel free to request contributions." We are very grateful to you for
having been so helpful to us with your many suggestions and comments. We have been
greatly encouraged by comments such as "My math degree has served me well and I
wouldn't trade it for anything!" These comments will provide a strong incentive to us to
keep our curriculum so as to be of maximum benefit to our students.
compiled by Lynda Jones
Lisa C. Allen (BS 1989) is President/Owner of ALLENCO Inc., a commercial
general contractor, in Sacramento.
Tamara Biermann (BS 1993) is working towards a multiple subject credential at
UC Davis.
Samson Cheung (PhD 1989) won the 1994 Ames Honor Award of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Congratulations, Dr. Cheung!
Kevin Christian (BS 1987) is an operations research consultant with Applied
Decision Analysis, Inc., at Menlo Park.
Jacqueline Coomes (BS 1993) is a full-time education student at St. Martin's
College in Lacey, WA.
Steven M. Day (MA & MAT 1990) is a mathematics instructor at the Agricultural
Technical Institute of Ohio State Univ. at Wooster, OH.
Teresa Dyer (BS 1990), now Grindy, is a mathematics teacher at McKay High
School in Salem, OR.
Gennis Emerson (BS 1990) is an associate instructor at Indiana Univ., a PhD
student in computer science working on machine learning.
Pascasio Felisilda (BS 1988) is a programmer for the California Highway Patrol,
Sacramento, and is going to McGeorge School of Law in the evenings.
Richard Fielding (BA 1989) is a part-time lecturer at CSU Hayward.
Andrew Flessel (BS 1985) is a financial analyst at Hewlett-Packard Co. in Santa
Clara.
Michael Gardetto (BS 1992) is a mathematics teacher and tennis coach at Placer
High School in Auburn.
Susanna Garrod (MAT 1988), now Garrod-Crawford, is an optometrist on
Saturdays in Danville and a mathematics instructor on weekdays at Sacramento City
College.
Sarah Gertmenian (AB 1992) is a mathematics teacher at Marriagua Secondary
School, St. Vincent, West Indies.
David Hall (BS 1985) is a senior accountant at Merle West Medical Center.
Michael S. Harrington (AB 1992) is an actuarial analyst at the Fireman's Fund
Insurance Co. in Novato.
Mark D. Hilton (BS 1982) is a doctoral student at Indiana Univ. School of Public
and Environmental Affairs, after being a US Naval Officer, engineering design technician,
and technical change manager at Amdahl Corp.
Aaron Klebanoff (PhD 1992) is an assistant professor of mathematics at Rose-
Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN.
Virginia Lau (BS 1990) is a project engineer at Dames and Moore Environmental
Engineering in Denver, CO.
Carolyn Q. Luu (BS 1992) is an MAT student at the Univ. of San Francisco.
Ho Nguyen (BS 1992) is a mathematics teacher at Balboa High School in San
Francisco.
Edwin Reed (MAT 1989) is a mathematics teacher at Dixon High School.
Genele G. Rhoads (MAT 1992) is a part-time instructor at Napa Valley College
and Solano Community College.
Reuben Spake (PhD 1986) is a visiting instructor at Solano College.
Marjorie Tan (BS 1990) is a word processing technician at the Department of
Corrections, Paroles, in San Francisco.
Amin Tanumihardjo (BS 1989) is a graduate student at Penn State expecting a
PhD in number theory in 1995.
Alex Taurke (MAT 1991) is a part time instructor at Monterey Peninsula College;
an adjunct faculty at Embry Riddle Aeronautical Univ.; and an editorial assistant at
Computer Society Press.
Bethanne Telford, now Hinkle, is a technical staff at the ARGO Systems, Inc. in
Sunnyvale.
Karen Wootton (MAT 1990) is a mathematics instructor at Indiana State
Univ.
Wei-Chi Yang (PhD 1988) is an assistant professor at Radford Univ., Radford,
VA.
The Department of Mathematics Newsletter is edited by Motohico Mulase, with
contributions from Henry Alder, Angela Cheer, Joel Hass and John Thoo, and is published
by:
Department of Mathematics
University of California
Davis, CA 95616-8633
Tel.: (530) 752-4887