The Department of Mathematics and Statistics has many resources. No doubt those that are the most valuable are its students and its faculty.
Students
Through the very large service role that the department plays, we encounter several thousand students each year. Those who are closest to us and about whom we ultimately care the most are those who choose to major or minor in the mathematical sciences. Students make these choices for a variety of reasons. Some must like to do mathematics. They love to solve problems or they see beauty in things mathematical. Others see it as a way toward a useful career in teaching or in the industrial world. Others may have different reasons for selecting the mathematical sciences as a major or minor. Whatever the reasons, such students are most welcome and stand to gain from lots of attention.
Through its strong program offerings and industrial contacts, the department hopes to serve its students well and make their experience rich and meaningful.
Faculty
The department takes great pride in its well-trained and versatile faculty. The regular faculty members hold doctorates in the mathematical sciences in a variety of fields — analysis, algebra, topology, geometry, combinatorics, statistics, and numerical methods. In contrast to the students, who for the most part come from southeast Michigan, the faculty has an international character. The doctorates have been earned at institutions throughout the U.S. and in foreign countries. This variety of backgrounds permits us to develop a broad-based program with excellent balance between theory and application. It also affords us a wide set of contacts.
In addition to their teaching responsibilities, all faculty members are engaged in research activities that help to advance the frontiers of the discipline. Several faculty members have received international recognition for their work. The existence of a faculty that is active in research and other scholarly activities brings great benefits and advantages to students in several ways. First, it allows them to experience an intellectual atmosphere that is conducive to learning by its mere presence. Second, it allows them to mingle with scholars in a variety of fields in an informal personal way so that their own interests can be pursued. Third, it permits continuing up-dating of programs in a natural and informed manner, which guarantees that students will not be disadvantaged as they leave the University and pursue their own careers. Fourth, it allows us to bring scholars from other universities and agencies to the campus to broaden our own and students' contacts in a natural way.
List of Faculty: click here
Industrial Advisory Committee
The faculty has been enhanced by the establishment of an Industrial Advisory Committee. The Committee consists of persons who have been trained in the mathematical sciences and who are leaders in their respective corporations. They serve the department collectively in the following ways:
- Provide continuing contacts for exchanges of information.
- Provide technical advice in the development of applied mathematics programs at the Bachelors, Masters, and Ph. D. levels.
- Are available for occasional seminars at the University to keep us informed of developments in the field or are able to suggest other persons who might fill this role.
- Are a source of problems and projects for the development of clinical components within our programs.
- Are able to assist in identifying possible internship positions for selected students.
Our active relationship with this Committee was begun in 1978–79. All objectives on the above list have been achieved. Exchange visits and exchange of information have occurred. Assistance has been given in new program development, particularly in relation to the Masters programs in Industrial Applied Mathematics and Applied Statistics. The existence of these Masters programs is of great value to undergraduate students as well as graduate students. Many undergraduate majors come to the University with advanced standing. Others seek to accelerate their programs. Courses in the Masters programs are available to these students to increase the depth and quality of their own programs. The clinical component affords the opportunity to study real problems. Finally, information has been received on the availability of internships, and several students have been employed under this type of arrangement in the summer months. As time goes on, these industrial relationships will be expanded and strengthened to the benefit of both faculty and students.
Staff
Other Resources
Our other significant resources in the department are our library resources and our computer equipment.
Our library holdings are excellent for student-related activities and programs and for most research purposes. Students will find a wide variety of books and journals available to them. Interlibrary loans are available in case of deficiencies. The department is an institutional member of several professional organizations and through these has access to journals, books, meetings, and other activities, which assist in maintaining a strong program overall. Frequently upper-level students are nominated for student memberships in some of these organizations, particularly the Mathematical Association of America, whose several journals are geared to the undergraduate level.
The department owns and operates a computer lab, located in the SEB tower. This lab is used primarily for teaching in mathematics and statistics courses with intense computational components. Students in all of our courses have access to geometry, computer algebra, statistics, and typesetting packages on the university's intranet as well as to the vast resources of the Internet. Our objective is to provide a balanced use of the computer in our curriculum. This not only enhances learning and instruction; it also smooths the entry of the students into the world of employment beyond the University. The department is committed to maintain a well balanced program of theory and application reflecting a modern mathematics and statistics program.