Mathematics 2007-2008
Overview
Liberal arts colleges typically offer small mathematics classes taught by faculty who care deeply about teaching, know their students well and take a personal interest in their welfare, and hold extensive office hours. Large universities, on the other hand, have their own strengths: a sizable and rich mathematics program, a great range of options, a significant number of students with similar interests, and an active faculty who welcome the intellectually curious student because of the shared goal of learning and discovering new mathematics. Which kind of school should you choose?
At Union, the Mathematics Department offers the benefits of both. Classes are small, with calculus sections of 25-30 students, advanced courses of 10-20 or fewer, and no large lectures. The mathematics department is committed to providing excellent instruction for its students. We’re known for challenging our students while also providing a lot of personal support to help them meet these challenges.
Yet Union has many more mathematics faculty and majors than do typical small liberal arts colleges. Our size means that mathematics students have friends with similar interests, and that we can offer majors in mathematics, in applied mathematics, and in mathematics with an emphasis on computer science, as well as interdepartmental majors (mathematics-biology and mathematics-economics are particularly popular) and a mathematics minor. Our greater size also allows for more variety in our course offerings, with selections such as Foundations of Mathematics, Differential Geometry, Topics in Mathematical Political Science, Game Theory, Knot Theory, Cryptology, and Topology, to name a few.
The faculty in the Mathematics Department are active in a number of areas of research, including topology, number theory, category theory, analysis, commutative algebra, numerical analysis, set theory, social choice theory, and geometry. We treat teaching and research as mutually supportive, so that (for example) advanced undergraduates engage in joint research with faculty and have been co-authors of research papers. Faculty research activity also enriches the selection of available independent study options - courses in which professors work one-on-one with students interested in pursuing subjects not covered by regular courses. Independent studies in recent years have included advanced topics in real analysis, the mathematical study of voting systems and voting paradoxes, and knot theory.
Union mathematics graduates have succeeded in a wide variety of careers, such as accounting, actuarial science, economics, engineering, and business. Many pursue additional degrees in law, medicine, and education, and quite a number have been successful in obtaining the Ph.D. degree in mathematics at excellent graduate schools.
Would you like to learn more about our special features, such as the Seminar in Mathematics (which includes guest lectures for undergraduates given by well-known mathematicians brought in from other campuses), the Calculus Help Center (a free tutorial program) or our special seminar course that introduces proofwriting? We are proud of our program and would like to talk to you about it; call us at (518) 388-6246, or visit our website at www.math.union.edu.
We can also put you in touch with one of our student ambassadors. Keep in mind that for a number of years, 50 percent or more of our majors have been women; Union provides a supportive atmosphere for women in mathematics. One of the best ways to find out about a college is to visit in the residence halls, and sit in on some courses; an ambassador can help arrange such a visit or just chat with you about mathematics at Union.
THE FACULTY
Our faculty and their areas of specialization include:
Julius Barbanel
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., SUNY/Buffalo
Mathematical logic, fair division, ancient Greek mathematics
Kelly Black
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Brown University
Numerical analysis
Davide Cervone
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Brown University
Geometry
William Fairchild
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Functional analysis
Paul Friedman
Lecturer
Ph.D., SUNY/Stony Brook
Lie groups, Representation theory
Brenda Johnson
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Brown University
Algebraic topology
Kathryn Lesh
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., MIT
Algebraic topology
Susan Niefield
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Rutgers University
Category theory
Kimmo Rosenthal
Professor of Mathematics and Dean for Undergraduate Education
Ph.D., SUNY/Buffalo
Category theory
Alan Taylor
Marie Louise Bailey Professor of
Mathematics
Ph.D., Dartmouth College
Set theory; mathematical political science, fair division
Christina Tonnesen-Friedman
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Odense University, Denmark
Differential geometry
Karl Zimmermann
Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., Brown University
Number theory
William Zwicker
William D. Williams Professor of Mathematics
Ph.D., MIT
Mathematical logic; social choice theory