May, 2011
Tyler H., Erin R. and Stephen E. (who was named as the Outstanding Math Graduate) completed their programs this academic year. Rumor has it that Tyler will be embarking on a serious bike ride through British Columbia as he contemplates plans for the future. Hopefully he will have some photographs of his trip that can be posted in a later newsletter.
Stephen and Erin are considering graduate programs in and outside of Alaska. Check back for updates.
Auguste S. (A.K.A. Augie), from way back when, decided he enjoys UAS too much to stay away. He is currently having a great time working in the TLC as the new Lead Math Specialist (Julie's replacement). Keeping him company, also as a Math Specialist, is Tony G. who graduated more recently. The two of them have been having a blast helping students with their math, teaching the occasional class, and also cooking up interesting problems to keep their minds active; for example, the most recent problem was about "flying goats." Go figure! Contact them through the TLC if you want to join in their fun.
James B. is wrapping up law school and plans to come back to Alaska to practice law. Lai H. and Sean O. have completed their MAT programs in Secondary School Education. The latest news is that Lai has been offered a job at Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School in Juneau and Sean has been offered a job at Glenns Ferry High School in Idaho. They both start with their new teaching assignments in the upcoming Fall.
Of others, here is what is known: Josh G. is enjoying the Portland area working on software having something to do with the Internet. Alicia H-S. is having fun in the Virginia area dabbling in teaching and music. After teaching mathematics for several years Tarik L. has decided to go back to graduate school to study, of all things, French. Pat T. has settled down in Juneau and is working his way up to owning/managing a boat repair and welding shop. Wassilie K. is teaching mathematics way up in Northern Alaska. Finally, evidence indicates that Jeff D. is enjoying his work with the military.
There is not much news of others from the program, as yet. If you are a UAS mathematics graduate and would like to update us on what you are up to these days, please send Brian or Chris an email.
This Just In (July 6, 2011)! After reading the above, Steve P. emailed to give his "where-and-what-abouts." His first comment was:
"I was browsing the Math Department website and enjoyed reading about what the other math graduates are up to, marveling at how distinct each of our paths have been,..."
He goes on to say
"I've been in Freiburg, Germany since March, 2010. I spent that spring/summer studying the local language and custom, and achieved an impressive balcony garden. In the fall I passed a fairly demanding German proficiency exam and promptly matriculated at Uni-Freiburg. I am now studying math with a bit of computer science on the side. All courses are confusing and German (redundant), but the program is incredibly flexible, and as such I'm free to take any lecture that seems interesting. So far my favorites have been: commutative algebra / algebraic geometry, and algebraic topology. Like all others infected with the pure math contagion, I'm now quarantined in the library."
If, like Steve, you want to keep us posted please email us.
The 2011 Annual Meeting of the PNW Section of the MAA just happened, June 23 - 25. All indications are that participants enjoyed their stay in Juneau, community members enjoyed the public lecture, all participants appreciated the three other excellent invited lectures and the many contributed talks. The meeting closed with an eventful whale watching boat ride. Photographs of the meeting are on their way. The link to the meeting website is given right below the link for this newsletter.
Jill Dumesnil is to run a Math Boot-Camp from 8/1 through 8/12 for new students admitted to a degree program at UAS starting fall 2011. This is a one-year pilot program at no cost to participants and is intended to help incoming students brush-up on their mathematics skills prior to taking placement exams for UAS mathematics courses.A new course, STAT 400: Computational Statistics with R, has been added to the College Catalog. This 2 credit course is an introduction to the public domain statistical software package R and will soon serve as a prerequisite to STAT 401, and certain UAF Fisheries Program courses. It is to be offered every Spring and will be available to local and out-of-town-students.
The members of the band String Theory, see 2008 Newsletter, converged on Juneau in April to play in the 2011 Alaska Folk Festival. It was good to see Alicia, Adrienne, Kirsa, Sarah and Josh back in action.
The Math Club was busy with monthly and, on occasion, bi-monthly meetings this year. A variety of presentations were given by faculty and some area professionals. If past majors plan to come to town and would like to share their experiences out of school, members of the Math Club would be delighted. Let Andrzej know if this sounds like something you would like to do, his email address is on the Faculty page of the program website.
Among other activities: The Calculus Camp for the Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain high schools took place late in the Spring; Colleen Ianuzzi (in Ketchikan) will be on sabbatical starting in the upcoming Fall to broaden her background in mathematics and statistics; Megan Buzby conducted several sessions in the "I'm Going to College" gathering for local kids; and various math faculty attended local school district and statewide meetings to provide interested parties with suggestions and/or feedback on matters concerning mathematics at UAS.