Newsletter June 2023

From the Chair

Dear Alumni, Friends, Colleagues, and Students,

Welcome to the 2022-2023 edition of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics newsletter. We have a lot to boast about in this edition.

This year we graduated our largest class of mathematics majors ever. The number of MS and PhD graduates is about equal to all-time highs. The Ostrom Lecture resumed after a three-year break due to the pandemic. Through efforts involving curriculum revision and a focus on teaching skills, we have drastically reduced the failure and dropout rates in our foundational courses.

Our students have had successes. One of our graduate students won an award for teaching, and another won a leadership award. Another placed second in a WSU-wide competition. A graduating Mathematics major was honored as a top ten senior in the University.

Our department faculty have had a good year. Several new books by faculty members have appeared. Faculty are very active in research and receive invitations to speak at conferences throughout the world. Three faculty members received promotions. In recent years, many faculty in the department have received awards, recognitions, and honors, and this year has been no exception. One of our faculty members was selected as a Faculty Regent — the first ever.

This past academic year we hired three new faculty members, adding to the two we hired last summer. We are excited that they will be joining our department. Three long-time faculty members who contributed significantly to our department have retired.

Sadly, this year we lost Claudia Pacioni, a teaching faculty member who gave years of dedicated service to the department and the University.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter. We would like to hear from you. Please send us a note or an email to let us know of the recent, and even not-so-recent events in your life and career. Follow us on Facebook or connect to our LinkedIn page and keep in touch.

We appreciate our alumni, friends, and all who are associated with the department in some way. You all contribute to the success of Mathematics and Statistics at WSU and the students we teach.

Sincerely,

Charles Moore
Professor and Department Chair
June, 2023
Pullman, WA

Elizabeth Thompson places second in the WSU Three-Minute Thesis Competition

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition began in Australia as a way for students to learn to succinctly express the content of their research to an audience of non-specialists. The idea quickly spread, and 3MT competitions are now held at universities throughout the world.

As the name suggests, students give a three-minute presentation in which they are allowed to use only one slide. This gives students an opportunity to hone their presentation skills and prepares them for the “elevator pitch” they may have to give in interviews or during their career.

In March, Elizabeth Thompson, a mathematics PhD student on the Vancouver campus, gave her presentation “What can donuts tell us about Police Body Cam Data?“ It won the Vancouver campus competition, and she was invited to Pullman for the WSU system-wide final. In a very intense event, Elizabeth was awarded second place.

Elizabeth’s work, under the direction of advisor professor Bala Krishnamoorthy, is in the relatively new area of topological data analysis, which seeks to draw conclusions about a large data set by analyzing its geometric structure using ideas from topology. Her intriguing title comes from the field of topology, where it is often humorously noted that topologically, a donut and a cup of coffee are indistinguishable. (Both have one hole. If, say, the coffee cup were made of clay, it could be reshaped into the shape of a donut without tearing the clay.)

Elizabeth hopes that her work can be used to inform police education programs about potential modifications they can make to their curriculum to foster improvements. Elizabeth is a teaching assistant in the department and would like to pursue a career in teaching after graduation.

Emily Sablan and Christy Jacobs are revising foundational Math courses

Since the end of the pandemic, universities throughout the U.S. have struggled with success rates, most notably in courses typically taken by first-year students. Emily Sablan and Christy Jacobs, both associate professors, career track, redesigned our Math 103 course this past fall semester, resulting in a dramatic drop in the course C-/D/F/W rate from 53.4% to 24.9%. Spurred by this success, and passionate about increasing success in other foundational math courses, they will implement a similar design for Math 100, 106, and 108 in the fall of 2023.

This summer, they will create short video lectures, with corresponding in-class activities for unit modules, and Canvas check-in assignments. Prior to class, students will watch a short video lecture that will work through several examples. Students will then work on activities during class and turn in problems as part of their in-class activity. These activities will include group and individual work, a variety of problem types including calculation, problem solving, and concept-based questions. Activities will also incorporate peer collaboration and understanding for content instead of memorization. Professors Sablan and Jacobs have found this strengthens critical thinking skills, and boosts student confidence. Canvas check-in assignments will be primarily non-math related assignments focusing on course and University resources, such as tutoring opportunities, growth mindset, mental health, and pre- and post-test reflection.

Professor Sablan notes: "Having the same course structure and expectations for all the foundational math courses creates familiarity and consistency. This will provide students with a smoother transition between foundational courses, which means students will have an easier time focusing on material and understanding."

This fall, two sections of an accelerated version of Math 100 and 103 will be offered, where students will complete Math 100 in the first six weeks and Math 103 in the last nine weeks of the semester. The accelerated courses will allow students to enter college-level math during their first year and enroll in science courses that require math prerequisites. Jacobs says, "Success in math courses benefits students and increases retention since students don't become discouraged or fall behind in a degree program."

Sablan and Jacobs are excited about the revisions saying, "We're looking forward to implementing these changes and expect to see encouraging results for both students and instructors." Sablan and Jacobs received a $5,000 Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Teaching and Learning Grant from the Vice Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Achievement for their proposal, "Improving STEM Pathways - MATH 100," for May 16, 2023–May 15, 2024. Learn more about the awarded Smith Teaching and Learning Grants in this WSU Insider article.

Rob Smith and Marcia Rivers Smith support experiential learning

Rob Smith and Marcia Rivers Smith, following many family members before them, graduated from WSU. Both graduated in 1974 with degrees in mathematics.

To honor their family’s connection to WSU, the couple established the Rob Smith and Marcia Rivers Smith Endowment for Experiential Learning and Student Support in Mathematics.

The endowment will be used to support undergraduate “transformational experiences” — educational activities outside the classroom. Such experiences include summer stipends to work on research with a faculty member, travel to present research at a conference, travel to a professional meeting, travel to participate in a mathematics competition, or student group sponsored visits to WSU by outside speakers or professionals. These experiences help students begin to view themselves as professionals and teach many important career skills.

Thomas Hillen delivers Ostrom Lecture

Professor Thomas Hillen of the University of Alberta delivered the 40th T.G. Ostrom Lecture in April. He is the author or co-author of over 100 articles in mathematical biology and the author of six texts on mathematical biology and partial differential equations. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Mathematical Biology.

Hillen’s lecture on “Mathematical Oncology of Brain Cancer” explored how mathematics can be used to model the spread of cancer through the brain’s nerve fibers, and how this mathematics can be used to guide treatments.

The following day, in a colloquium talk titled “Mathematical Modelling of Cancer Stem Cells”, Hillen spoke on his investigations to model the growth of cancer stem cells in the brain. This work provides a mathematical explanation of what is known as the tumor growth paradox – that under treatment, a tumor might grow larger than a similar tumor without treatment.

Professor Theodore G. Ostrom was a department faculty member with international fame who made fundamental and outstanding contributions to the field of finite geometries. Ostrom retired from WSU in 1981 after serving on the faculty for 21 years. The annual T.G. Ostrom Lecture honors Professor Ostrom by bringing internationally renowned scholars to the WSU campus each spring.

A busy and successful year on the Vancouver campus

The 2022-2023 academic year proved to be busy for the math group at WSU Vancouver. Despite some declines in the overall population of students, the enrollments in our mathematics and statistics courses proved to be very robust. As a non-residential campus with many first-generation students (approximately 55% of our first-year students are the first in their family to attend college), we take pride in working to support these newest members of the Cougar family.

Our faculty are involved in student success efforts on campus and take part in professional development opportunities to improve our teaching. In fact, you will find the chairs of both the Accessibility Council and the Council for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion among our ranks. As a group, we took part in an Equity Planning and Practice Inventory. Many of our classes have a strong active learning component and quite a few of our faculty use the flipped classroom model. Special recognition was given to Professor Bala Krishnamoorthy who received the WSU College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award.

Seven of our undergraduate students received their degrees this year with two more set to graduate at the end of summer. PhD student Srijanie Dey (under supervision of Associate Professor Alex Dimitrov) successfully defended her thesis titled “Point-Neuron Modeling with post-von Neumann Experimental Neuromorphic System” and was awarded a doctorate in mathematics. PhD student Elizabeth Thompson won the Vancouver Three Minute Thesis competition and went on to win second place in the overall WSU Three Minute Thesis competition. Also, PhD student Fabiana Ferracina was selected to do a research internship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Congratulations to all!

In December, the Vancouver math group took part in hosting the MESA x TRiO Winter STEM Institute for area high school students. The MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) students used a Mathematica simulation to save the Earth from collision with a distant asteroid. And for those students with more of an evil genius bent, they also could redirect an asteroid to put the Earth in danger.

In March, WSU Vancouver hosted the Washington State Mathematics Council Regional High School State Competition. Area high school students took part in a day filled with math activities and student presentations to celebrate our favorite subject with one team advancing to the state competition.

This summer will give us some time to recharge (and take part in more professional development opportunities) before we start all over again for Fall 2023.

Department welcomes new faculty

In January of 2023, we welcomed Peterson Chiliromango Moyo to the department as an assistant professor, career track. Moyo received a PhD in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and a master of science in mathematics from the University of New Mexico. He received a bachelor’s degree from Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

His research interests are in mathematics education, especially teacher preparation. He has worked with elementary, middle school, and high school teachers for 12 years and taught in the K-12 system in Wisconsin, New Mexico, and his native Malawi. He is interested in mathematical knowledge for teaching, recognizing that teachers need to understand mathematics and statistics to teach it. As a result, he is committed to helping students attain a better understanding of mathematics and statistics and helping them effectively teach. He is interested in working with both teachers and students to improve the transition from high school to university mathematics and statistics.

Moyo is very enthusiastic about the opportunity to build on the department's strong commitment to pre-service and in-service K-12 teachers in Washington state and beyond. He will be a very positive influence on our students, faculty, and community, and we are pleased to have him join the department.

In August of 2023, we will be welcoming Anne Wilhelm to the department as an associate professor. Wilhelm earned a a PhD in mathematics educations in 2013 from Vanderbilt University, and from 2013 until 2019 she held the position of assistant professor at Southern Methodist University. She was promoted to associate professor at SMU in 2019, the position she currently holds.

Wilhelm is highly respected in the U.S. and internationally for her research on teacher learning and the development of tools to assess teachers’ development. Notable is Wilhelm’s recent work on the interpretation and use of a set of rubrics focused on instructional practice that promotes equity and access in mathematics classrooms.

Previous to earning a PhD, she earned a master’s in mathematics at the University of Washington. While there, she developed a love of teaching, and subsequently taught for four years at two high schools in the Seattle area. Wanting to learn more about mathematics education, she then pursued a master’s in curriculum and instructional leadership.

Wilhelm will also be serving as the department’s director of mathematics education. In this role she will oversee the department’s teacher preparation courses and lead the department’s research and graduate education efforts in mathematics education. Several faculty members in mathematics education have retired in recent years, and one of Wilhelm’s goals will be to rebuild this group, which has traditionally been a strength of the department.

For the past year, Abby Higgins ('17 PhD Math.), has been teaching in an instructor position in the department. After earning her PhD, she headed to California to an assistant professor position at California State University, Maritime Academy, before moving to an assistant professor position at California State University, Sacramento the next year. While on leave from that position, she has been working in our department.

Beginning in August, Higgins will have a more formal and permanent position in the department as an assistant professor, career track. In this position she will be able to continue her research in mathematics education, teach, and participate in curriculum development. She especially enjoys working with students in foundational courses and is excited to implement some strategies developed in her research in our classrooms.

Chencheng Cai, currently a postdoctoral researcher at Temple University in Philadelphia, will be joining us in August. Cai earned a master's degree in financial statistics and risk management in 2015, and a PhD in statistics in 2020, both from Rutgers University. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Department of Statistics, Operations and Data Science at Temple University.

Since earning his PhD, he has authored or co-authored over a dozen papers and given invited lectures at several institutions across the U.S. Cai has had experience working as a statistical consultant at Rutgers and had a summer internship at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

In addition to research, Cai greatly enjoys teaching and has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Newly published faculty-authored books

Hong-Ming Yin is the author of a new book, Partial Differential Equations and Applications.

Mike Jacroux is the author of a new book, A Non-Least Squares Approach to Linear Models.

Club News

American Math Society (AMS) Graduate Student Chapter

Over the past academic year, the AMS Graduate Student Chapter hosted monthly teas in the Hacker Lounge where students and faculty could enjoy a break from studies to socialize. In March, the club hosted a talk and refreshments with Professor Kimihiro Noguchi, from Western Washington University, who gave a colloquium titled "A Closer Look at the Lack-of-Memory Property."

American Statistical Association (ASA) Student Chapter

The graduate chapter of ASA at WSU organizes events to promote data literacy within and across the disciplines at WSU.

Last November, the chapter organized the department’s Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) — where graduate students present their research in three minutes to a lay audience with the help of only a single static slide. First place was awarded to Paula Kimmerling and second place to Mahedi Hasan, sending both to the College of Arts and Sciences 3MT competition.

ASA officers conducted a day long "Data Science" workshop with NCW Tech of Wenatchee, WA. In the spring, the club organized a workshop on R, open to all WSU graduate students.

The chapter hosted monthly teas and hosted an ice cream social serving Ferdinand's ice cream at the end of the academic year. The chapter’s president, Mahedi Hasan, received the 2022–2023 GPSA “Excellence Award” as a top graduate student instructor. He also received the “WSU President’s Leadership Award” in the graduate student category for "demonstrating exceptional leadership and service to the university and the community."

Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Student Chapter

AWM began the academic year with a “semester kickoff social” of games and pizza. In October, the club hosted a trivia night that focused on highlighting critical issues in mathematics and featured a discussion of female mathematicians who have made significant contributions to the field. The club wrapped up fall semester by hosting a colloquium with Sepideh Stewart, professor of mathematics at University of Oklahoma. In her talk, she reflected on a decade’s worth of collaborative research with mathematicians about teaching mathematics at the university level. 

To start spring semester, the club hosted a math-themed game night with dinner provided for attendees. In March, the club held a two-day workshop, in conjunction with the department’s Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) committee, where they hosted WSU alumna and STEM educator Valerie Cheathon as an event workshop leader. The workshop included sessions to elucidate the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in mathematics, tangible do's and don'ts for teachers, and information and statistics on underrepresented groups in STEM fields. 

At the end of March, the club participated in the Kids’ Science and Engineering Day, organized by the WSU Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Club members interacted with nearly 400 kids aged K-5. 

At the beginning of finals week, the club provided donuts, coffee, flavored Lotus energy drinks, and Panda Express in a grab-and-go format for both undergraduate and graduate students in the department to help relieve the stress of the upcoming week.

Math Club

The Math Club has continued to grow after its 2021 post-COVID restart. Club members meet each Wednesday evening with discussions, lectures, and problem-solving adventures led by faculty advisors and guest speakers. They held interactive sessions on fun topics that included cryptography, social choice theory, math competitions, self-referential polls, agent-based modeling, and game theory.

The club hosted the College of Arts and Sciences Career Development Coordinator who gave a presentation on how to apply for math-degree related jobs and how to effectively put together application materials.

WSU Team competes in 100-hour math modeling competition

A team of undergraduate students represented WSU in a 100-hour math modeling competition (4 days and 4 hours!) beginning on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 and ending on Monday, February 20, 2023. Typically, over 25,000 teams from around the world compete, with each team choosing one of six possible problems. This year WSU’s team was composed of Liam Crafton (double majoring in math and physics), Eric Simpson (double majoring in math and philosophy), and Laina Wyrick (a physics major with a math minor). Had it been possible, they might have chosen a physics based model – but none of the six problems were founded in physics (!).

But they forged ahead. They chose a problem related to analyzing the 17 United Nations Sustainability and Development Goals (SDGs) (Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being… ). The goal was to create a network of the relationships between the goals and advise the UN on how to set priorities that could “most efficiently move the work of the UN forward,” and be able to predict what would happen to all the goals if e.g. 2 goals were prioritized. Network modeling came to the rescue!

For over 100 hours they balanced their course assignments, personal life, and the competition – and they didn’t get much sleep. Liam wondered how long he could actually go without any sleep (he went over 36 hours, and no more than six hours the other three nights). Eric focused on programming, Laina focused on writing and synthesizing, and Liam focused on the big picture… It was great teamwork!

What did they learn? There are many strong correlations between different SDGs, but blindly following correlation does not help promote progress. One of their biggest takeaways was that the SDGs and their subgoals are more a measure of how European a country is than how developed they are. For example, minimizing trawl fishing is strongly correlated with high SDG scores but is not itself an indicator of a country’s development. 

To tease out more meaningful connections, they analyzed how correlations changed among groups of countries classified by their overall progress. They found that while literacy is not well correlated with SDG score progress overall, it is important for underdeveloped countries. Similarly, decreasing poverty improves hunger in developed countries because there is the infrastructure for distributing food, but decreasing poverty in underdeveloped countries may have a limited impact on overall hunger. 

Congratulations to these talented WSU students for getting to a level where they could see the strengths and weaknesses of the SDG scoring!

Results are forthcoming.

Faculty Promotions

Three of our faculty members will receive promotions, effective August 2023.

Assistant Professor Xiongzhi Chen has been promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. His research covers a broad span of Statistics and Data Science.

Christy Jacobs, assistant professor, career track, has been promoted to associate professor, career track. She has introduced innovative and effective teaching methods into our foundational courses.

Kevin Fiedler, assistant professor, career track, has been promoted to associate professor, career track.

Department faculty and students reap awards

Continuing our tradition, the department has continued to be well-represented at end-of-the-year awards ceremonies:

Assistant Professor Daryl DeFord was awarded the College of Arts and Sciences award for “Early Career Achievement”.

Professor Bala Krishnamoorthy received the College of Arts and Sciences award for “Excellence in Graduate Teaching”.

Professor Sergey Lapin received the College of Arts and Sciences award for “Interdisciplinary Catalyst”. Professor Lapin also received the “President’s Leadership Award”.

Graduate student Molly Sutter received the College of Arts and Sciences award for “Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student".

Graduating mathematics major Madison Neyland received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Senior Award, as well as a WSU Top Ten Senior Award in Academics for 2023.

Professor Jan Dasgupta received the “Yang Liu Award for Teaching International Students" from the Office of International Programs.

Graduate student Mahedi Hasan received the 2022-2023 “GPSA Excellence Award” as a top graduate student instructor. He also received the “President’s Leadership Award” in the graduate student category.

Math MS alumna Valerie Cheathon, founder of I AM STEM ABLE, LLC, received a WSU MLK Community, Equity, and Social Justice Award. This award recognizes individuals and groups that work toward a climate of inclusive excellence through activism, advocacy, academic endeavors, mentoring, program creation, public service, research, or teaching.

Professor Judi McDonald was nominated for the Global Campus Excellence in Online Teaching Award.

Professor V.S. "Mano" Manoranjan received the Honors College Faculty Award.

Congratulations to these faculty members and students!

Department retirements

Kimberly Vincent, associate professor, career track, began teaching at WSU in January 1999, just as she was finishing a PhD in mathematics education at the University of Idaho. During her career, she held the titles of instructor, clinical assistant professor, and clinical associate professor (later retitled as teaching associate professor and associate professor, career track).

Vincent authored several publications in mathematics education and gave many presentations at mathematics educations conferences.

Besides being a well-liked teacher, Vincent was involved in an array of educational activities. She organized workshops for middle school and secondary teachers, as well as for her colleagues. She also organized workshops for K-12 students. She served on many advisory boards for state and national educational organizations, including serving as the executive director of the Washington Teachers of Mathematics.

At least twice each fall, Vincent traveled with secondary mathematics education students to Nespelem School, a public school on the Colville Federated Tribes Indian Reservation, where WSU students engaged middle school students in a variety of mathematics activities.

Vincent organized the Inland Northwest Math Experience, an annual event in which middle school and high school students came to WSU to participate in activities developed by students in a course for pre-service math teachers.

We thank her for her years of service to the department and her many contributions to the development of education at all levels.

Associate Professor Jave Pascual received his PhD in statistics from Iowa State University in 1997. He held an assistant professor position at St. Cloud State University from 1997 to 1998 and began as an assistant professor at WSU in 1998. He received tenure and was promoted to associate professor in 2004.

At WSU he taught a range of courses – Applied Probability, Statistical Methods for Engineers and Scientists, Introduction to Statistical Theory, Statistical Theory I and II, Quality Control, and Reliability. He served as thesis supervisor to two doctoral students and nearly 40 master’s students. Students praised the depth of his knowledge, his clarity of explanation, and the supportive environment he created in the classroom.

He published over 25 research papers in statistics, many focusing on reliability theory and quality control.

Pascual was invited to serve as a co-author on the second edition of the well-known text Statistical Methods for Reliability Data by Meeker and Escobar. Known as the preeminent text in the field, the second edition incorporated some of Pascual’s research.

He received many honors including: the American Statistical Association Outstanding Statistical Application Award, the 2009 Distinguished Paper award from the Decision Science Institute, the Jack Youden prize for best expository paper in Technometrics, and was an Outstanding Mentor Nominee at the 14th Annual Women and Leadership Forum.

His expertise and contributions to our teaching mission will be greatly missed.

Department obituaries

Sam Cundiff Saunders

(February 24, 1931 - January 22, 2023)

Sam Cundiff Saunders was born to a family of emigrant farmers and ranchers in the rural eastern Oregon town of Richland, at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains. Like many families, his family suffered severe economic distress during the Great Depression and for a time they lived in a renovated chicken coop with scant heating and only a single electric lightbulb. Sam fell ill at the age of six and, after months of increasing weakness, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He was immediately taken to the Oregon State Sanitorium in Salem, a two-day trip from home, where he stayed for over a year. Miraculously, both he and his sister Susan, who was also there for a time, recovered from the "White Plague."

Richland had a one-room schoolhouse to which students' horses were often tied up outside during class. Sam's gifts were quickly noted by his teacher; his first score on a standardized test was so exceptional the teacher re-administered it out of disbelief in the result. At the teacher's urging, the family relocated to La Grande, Oregon, where Sam could attend a "true high school." There, Sam lettered in football and track and excelled in his classes. By his senior year, he was disagreeing with and correcting many of his teachers on subjects ranging from literature to science. Sam worked at various jobs to support his education and one summer, while driving a rush delivery of bread from Baker City to La Grande, he was pulled over for speeding. Unable to pay the $10 fine, he was thrown into jail for the night. Although Sam never again spent time in jail, he did accumulate his share of speeding tickets and fines.

After graduating from high school, Sam attended Eastern Oregon College (now University) on a scholarship. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1948 with a bachelor of science and earned his PhD in mathematics at the University of Washington in 1952. His thesis documented the discovery and application of the Fatigue-Life Distribution (now also known as the Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution), with specific application to structural failures in materials.

Sam met his wife, Ruth Ann, while teaching summer-classes at the University of Washington. They were married in 1954 and raised three children, Winston, Craig, and Susan in the Seattle area and eastern Washington.

After graduate school, Sam worked at Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories (BSRL) where he made many contributions to mathematical theories underlying aircraft reliability. He was proud to work at Boeing and once impressed his father-in-law by arranging a tour of the first 747 prototype.

Sam joined the faculty of Washington State University (WSU) as a professor of mathematics in 1972. In addition to teaching and research, he served on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and maintained a private consulting business. He taught many successful students up to his retirement in 1996, after which he continued to mentor younger mathematicians from the US and abroad.

Sam had diverse interests outside of mathematics. He played volleyball in Boeing and Seattle leagues and was dubbed the "flying goat" for his signature goatee and abilities as a setter. He was an accomplished photographer, winning recognition for his meticulously crafted black and white prints. His portrait of Wallodi Weibull graces the cover of a well-known statistics textbook.

Sam respected the craftsmanship and engineering of Porsche cars and drove one for over 50 years, always ensuring they were properly serviced, washed, and driven. He was proud to participate in Porsche Club tours where his immaculate 911S, being among the oldest cars in the club, would drive near the front of the line. He developed a keen interest in the science and metallurgy of Japanese katana and once demonstrated that the curvature of many samurai blades follows the logarithmic spiral, a mathematical curve optimizing cutting efficiency. He organized exhibits of Samurai art and armor at WSU and the Bellevue Art Museum.

Sam was a life-long Shakespearean and could recite many sonnets from memory. In response to the Shakespeare authorship question, Sam was a confirmed Oxfordian. One of his widely recognized contributions was an analysis of the odds in Claudius' wager on Hamlet's duel with Laertes. "This meticulous specificity seems a remarkable achievement in the sixteenth century... That this answer could have been guessed without extensive fencing experience and knowledge of Cardano's work in probability, seems virtually impossible."

As an opera and music lover, Sam attended the full cycle of Wagner's Ring multiple times and one of our last memories of him and Ruth Ann together is of them holding hands and singing "If Ever I Could Leave You" from "Camelot." His Guinevere and her Lancelot.

Sam is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ruth Ann, his sisters Susan Means and Jane (Dale) White, his children Winston (Sara Stamey), Craig (Gayatri Salunke), and Susan (Dan) Eylar, grandchildren Katelyn Eylar, Alison and Samuel Saunders, and Rhea Shinde, and great-grandchildren Louis and Leslie Saunders Oehlerking and Harper Lee Hebden.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Sam C. and Ruth Ann Saunders Endowed Scholarship at the Eastern Oregon University Foundation (www.eou.edu/foundation/giving/) or to the Washington State University Foundation for the Sam C. and Ruth Ann Saunders Graduate Fellowship in Mathematics (https://bit.ly/SaundersWSU/).

(October 13, 1953 - April 6, 2023)

It is with great sadness we announce our colleague and friend, Claudia Pacioni, passed away on April 6, 2023, at Pullman Regional Hospital due to complications from cancer.

Claudia was born October 13, 1953 in Olympia, Washington, and grew up in Chehalis, Washington. She later lived in the Seattle area. She worked as a photographer, graphic artist, florist, and farmworker. She served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 4 years and later spent time in the Coast Guard Reserves. It was while she was in the Coast Guard that she met and later married Jeff Seifried. Their Coast Guard years took them to California, Oregon, and later back to Washington. While living in Oregon they had two children, and it was during this time that Claudia discovered her love of teaching. She returned to school at Bellevue Community College and then moved with the children to Pullman, Washington, in 1995.

Claudia had many hobbies throughout her life; she enjoyed music, gardening and cooking. She enjoyed learning and participating in everything life had to offer and she enjoyed helping others. She wanted to be remembered as a dedicated Mariners fan. Claudia loved her dog and grandpups, her family and friends, but her greatest joy in life was her children, and she was extremely proud of them.

In Pullman, she found a community of friends and she was able to pursue her passion for math. She earned her bachelor and master’s degree in mathematics at Washington State University. She then joined our department as a faculty member in 1999, and taught math courses until her passing. She was most proud of securing art grants for the Snoqualmie school district, STEM grants for Eastern Washington schools, and designing mathematical curriculum.

At WSU she was a dedicated teacher who cared deeply about her students. She especially enjoyed teaching foundational courses, in particular Math 103. Many students in these classes have high levels of math anxiety and many gaps in their knowledge. Claudia was warm and patient and helped students learn the course material and, most importantly, learn that they could learn mathematics. Claudia was a dedicated and well-liked colleague in the department, and she will be greatly missed.

Claudia was preceded in death by her mother, Lucille, her brother, Richard, and her dog, Smokey. She is survived by her sister Tami Schwender of Olympia, Washington, her daughter, Nina Seifried of Florida, her son, Neil and his partner Lacey of Pullman, Washington, and friends Sandy, Judy, Mary, Theresa and Russ.

A memorial celebration was held April 22, 2023 at Lawson Gardens.

(The information above was modified from the Corbeill Funeral Homes obituary for Claudia Pacioni.)

Remembrances of Claudia

Claudia was a good baker and cook. Before the pandemic she would bring homemade scones and cookies to our Math 103 meetings to share with everyone. I shared an office with her in the department, and I will truly miss her.
Chie Sakabe

Claudia lived directly across the street from Sunnyside Park, which gave her the perfect seat for the July 4 fireworks display. She invited us over a few times to watch them with her. We'd barbecue in her back yard in the evening, and then when it got dark we'd wander to her upstairs deck, where we could enjoy the fireworks in comfort, sipping our drinks, and Claudia smoking a cigar.
Kevin Cooper

I got to know Claudia while taking classes when we were both older returning students at WSU. She was delightfully funny with an easy-going infectious laugh. We've worked on the same floor for 24 years and I've enjoyed her home remodeling, camping, gardening, and most recently, fish stories. She shared that she had trained her goldfish to play water ping pong with her, and when I expressed skepticism she showed me videos. Claudia was a true friend, always optimistic, and she enjoyed teaching students. I will miss her.
Terry Wagoner

I am very sad that Claudia has passed away, and I feel for her family. Claudia was very kind and nice to everyone. She was always helpful if you had a question. I saw first-hand that she was dedicated to her teaching. She was a good baker and always brought baked treats to our Math 103 coordination meetings. She was funny, as well, and always kept a bird in her Zoom meetings, below the right corner screen. I will miss her very much.
Xiaoming (Maureen) Wen

In my observations of and interactions with Claudia over the years, I was always impressed with her dedication, enthusiasm, and kindness. Students were fortunate to have her as an instructor and I was fortunate to have her as a colleague.
Dean Johnson

Claudia never asked more from others than she asked of herself. Her dedication to teaching and her students was unwavering and a model to me. She also had a carefree and joyous sense of humor which she shared easily with her coworkers who all considered her a good friend. She has left a hole in the department and her community at large and will be dearly missed. Rest in peace.
Brian Becsi

As a long-time member of the department, Claudia was always diligent about her work. She cared a great deal about the students and as coordinator of Math 103, she carried a huge responsibility for a number of years. She dropped into my office many a times and she was always cheerful and upbeat. The department will miss her and the positivity she carried around herself. May her soul rest in peace!
Krishna Jandhyala

Alumni updates

Wail Alahmadi ('23 PhD Math.) has accepted a position as an assistant professor at The Islamic University (Saudi Arabia). He was advised by Michael Tsatsomeros.

Samuel Brienen ('23 MS Math.) has been accepted into the PhD program in mathematics at the University of Idaho. He was advised by Daniel Reiss.

Matthew Gaddis ('23 PhD Math.) has accepted a position as a supply chain analyst and planner with Silvus Technologies. He was advised by V.S. Manoranjan.

Luke Hall ('23 MS Statistics) has accepted a position as a biostatistician in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University. He was advised by Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta and Sterling McPherson.

Indunil Hewage ('23 MS Math.) has been accepted into the PhD program in mathematics at WSU. He was advised by Elissa Schwartz.

Chris Kang ('23 PhD Math.) has accepted a postdoc position at the University of Calgary. He was advised by Nikos Voulgarakis.

Kostiantyn Lyman ('23 MS Statistics) has been accepted into the PhD program in mathematics at WSU. He was advised by Yuan Wang.

Rachel Perrier ('23 PhD Math.) has accepted a position as an assistant professor with Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio). She was advised by Matthew Hudelson.

Madison Neyland ('23 BS Math.) received a WSU 2023 Top Ten Senior Award in Academics, as well as a College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Senior Award. This fall, she will enter a one-year Master in Teaching program in secondary education in mathematics at WSU Spokane. Read about Madison.

Priyanka Rao ('23 PhD Applied Math., '21 MS Statistics) is working full-time at Microsoft as a data scientist, a position she accepted in January 2023. She was advised by V.S. Manoranjan and Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta.

Hongjin Zhang ('23 PhD Statistical Science) has accepted a position as an applied scientist at Amazon. She was advised by Abhishek Kaul.

Alta Tumurbaatar ('21 PhD Math.) is a post-doctoral researcher with Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia. She is working on nursing quality indicator projects to detect pressure injury using EHR data, temporal network analysis, and machine learning models. Her research focuses are algebraic graph algorithms, machine learning, deep learning, computational topology, and their applications in biomedical and health science. She was advised by Kevin Vixie.

Zachary Hilliard ('20 PhD Math.) spent two years teaching mathematics at a private school in Virginia after earning his doctoral degree. While there he coached volleyball and continued his pen and ink drawing hobby. In July 2022, he accepted a postdoctoral scholar position in the Mathematics Department at Oregon State University in Corvallis. His research has two parallel tracks; one on phase transition (variants of the Stefan problem) and the other on estimating macro-scale properties (permeability) from fluid simulations at the pore-scale. He taught advanced calculus 1 (undergraduate real analysis) last quarter, and is teaching it again along with an introductory class to numerical analysis. He also runs a reading group for undergraduates on an introduction to functional analysis. He was advised by Lynn Schreyer.

Yufeng Cao ('19 PhD Math.) is a research associate in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Maryland, where he is applying mathematics to the field of radiation oncology. He is using data analysis to help with medical imaging and clinical parameters. Recently the team he is working with developed a deep learning model that mimics a physician's prescription dosing behavior in radiosurgery of brain metastases using a three-path three-dimensional convolutional neural network. This modeling can improve the efficiency and accuracy of clinical practice or serve as a surrogate to provide initial consultations to patients seeking secondary opinions. An article on this, "AI-assisted clinical decision making (CDM) for dose prescription in radiosurgery of brain metastases using three-path three-dimensional CNN," was recently published in Science Direct. Yufeng was advised by Kevin Vixie.

Mostafa Rezapour ('20 PhD Math., '19 MS Statistics) has recently joined the Center for Biomedical Informatics as a research fellow at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Prior to this, he was a postdoc (2020-2022) in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Wake Forest University (WFU), where he also led the Machine Learning Group in the 2021-2022 academic year. As a postdoc, he served on the graduate committee and taught calculus series, linear algebra, optimization, and differential equations. He also mentored the National Math Alliance for Doctoral Studies in Mathematical Science. The WFU School of Medicine's Center for Biomedical Informatics is developing image analysis systems for computer-assisted analysis and interpretation of medical images to help medical professionals (e.g., pathologists, radiologists). The goal is to develop computational tools to extract quantitative features useful for more objective and accurate detection, diagnosis, and prognosis. As a research fellow, he is very interested in and passionate about machine learning, deep learning, advanced linear algebra, tensor analysis, computational mathematics, and optimization to help the Clinical Image Analysis Lab achieve its goals. At WSU, Mostafa passed the department's Graduate Qualifying Exam with the highest score of all graduates. He received a Sidney G. Hacker Graduate Mathematics Scholarship, and a Craft Scholarship from the College of Arts and Sciences. In Iran, he ranked eighth out of more than 20,000 students taking the Master of Science in Applied Mathematics Exam, and number nine out of more than 20,000 students taking the Master of Science in Theoretical (Pure) Mathematics Exam. Mostafa earned a doctoral degree in applied mathematics under Professor Tom Asaki, and a master's degree in statistics under Professor Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta.

Valerie Cheathon ('18 MS Math.) founder of I AM STEM ABLE, LLC, has received a WSU MLK Community, Equity, and Social Justice Award. The award recognizes individuals and groups that work toward a climate of inclusive excellence through activism, advocacy, academic endeavors, mentoring, program creation, public service, research, or teaching.

Osama Fakron ('17 MS Math.) accepted a position as an assistant professor and program advisor for engineering technology in the School of Engineering Math & Technology at Navajo Technical University (New Mexico). Prior to this, he worked as a mathematics instructor at Virginia Tech. He earned both a PhD in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in applied mathematics from WSU after receiving a master's degree in mechanical engineering and working as a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Benghazi. He has extensive experience with material characterization techniques including scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and nanoindentation. His primary research interest is in the area of 3D image reconstruction and he uses mathematical formulas to describe experiment details. He was advised by Tom Asaki.

Hossein Noorazar ('17 PhD Math.) is working with Professor Kirti Rajagopalan in the WSU Biological Systems Engineering department as a postdoc research associate using remote sensing. He uses satellite images to study farmers' practices. In particular, he looks at whether a field is double-cropped. Double-cropping is important for food production yet uses more water that might be scarce in some regions. He is interested in using statistical learning techniques to explore data and image analysis, which can have a variety of applications such as detecting anomalies of cancer in the body, fractures in wind turbines, rust on metal structures, increasing the quality of cell phone images, or deleting an unwanted object from an image. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and experimenting with new food recipes, landscape photography, and pottery. Hossein was advised by Kevin Vixie and Matthew Sottile.

Heather Moon ('13 PhD Math.) accepted a position at St. Mary's College of Maryland after graduating; yet missing the Pacific Northwest, she returned to the area by accepting a position as an assistant professor at Lewis-Clark State College. She received tenure there, became chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and later resigned to pursue a doctoral degree in physics at WSU. She is currently beginning her PhD research in Shock Physics and expects to graduate in 2025. Springer has recently published her textbook Application-Inspired Linear Algebra, with co-authors Tom Asaki (WSU) and Marie Snipes (Kenyon College). The book's goal is to inspire mathematics using applications, which means it begins with applications and leads students through the same processes that mathematicians use in their research to develop linear algebra tools. This deviates markedly from the more standard definition-theorem-pedagogical examples-applications path and allows students to understand the need of a tool or technique and how to use it and to gain a deeper understanding — before seeing its definition or knowing what a tool is called. Her future goal is to work at a national lab where her skills in mathematics and physics can be used to make a difference in the world. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time in the wilderness, working with batik in her basement, and teaching batik classes. She was advised by Tom Asaki.

Andy Felt ('00 PhD Math.), a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at University of Washington-Stevens Point, has secured a Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission grant to teach Introductory Modeling and Project/ Problem Based Learning in the Applied Physics and Mathematics Department of Gdańsk University of Technology in Poland for the 2023 academic year.

News briefs

Judi McDonald has been appointed as the first-ever Faculty Regent on the WSU Board of Regents. Read this WSU Insider article.

V.S. Manoranjan will edit a special issue of Mathematics (MDPI) on "Diffusion Equations and Models with Applications."

Graduate student Matt Gaddis received a $10,000 Pharr Fellowship for Spring 2023. His advisor is V.S. Manoranjan.

The International Linear Algebra Society published a podcast of Daryl DeFord on Applications of Linear Algebra to Graph Theory and Network Science as one of its monthly video podcasts.

Daryl DeFord was one of three experts interviewed regarding redistricting analysis and gerrymandering by SciLine, an editorially independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit service for journalists and scientists. Read the the full article here.

Saranah Selmi is the new program leader at WSU Tri-Cities.

Undergraduates Eric Simpson and Kallie Distler, who are mentored by Daryl DeFord, received awards for their poster presentations in the "Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, and Information Sciences" category of the 2023 SURCA.

A WSU-PNNL Joint Seminar Series, D4: Discuss, Discourse, Disseminate with Data, was held last fall that allowed students to present research and answer questions from a panel of WSU and PNNL speakers. The seminar series also provided a means for PNNL scientists to offer future internships to students.

Boeing Distinguished Professor and Fellow of the American Statistical Society, Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta, has conducted Data Literacy Community Camps in Cashmere and the Tri-Cities to introduce data science to young students and their families. More Data Camps are scheduled for the future. Read this WSU Insider article.

Last fall, CISER Assistant Director Trey DeJong and Research Assistant Swarnita Chakraborty gave a presentation titled "SBDC Needs Assessment" to the Washington Small Business Development Center Conference in Spokane. They presented the results of their statistical analysis assessing small business needs and the impact of COVID on small businesses in the State of Washington.

Professor Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta was featured in the AMS Stat News September 2022 issue, in an article titled "A Date with Data: Stepping Toward Data Literacy."

Xiongzhi Chen, Rhonda Crate, Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta, Daryl DeFord, Yuan Wang, and Swarnita Chakraborty each presented a session during the WSU Data Day, hosted by the WSU Office of Research and Graduate School.

Associate Professor Xueying (Snow) Wang has been awarded a $42,000 Simons Foundation grant. The award will go toward scientific travel, helping graduate students, and providing support for department activities, colloquia, and seminars, over a period of five years.

Kelly Nigro was hired as the department finance manager in August 2023, replacing Debbie Brudie who retired.

Diane Gilchrist has retired after 40 years of service to WSU, and Scott Troka a mathematics graduate from the University of Idaho, has been hired to succeed her.

Graduate Coordinator Emily Lewis will move to Ohio in June where her fiancé has accepted a university postdoc position.

Graduate student Tariq Alsmadi welcomed a new daughter, Julia Tariq, into the world on March 15, 2023. She was 7.5 lbs and 19" long.

Assistant Director of CISER, Trey DeJong, welcomed a new daughter, Juniper Rue, into the world on March 26, 2023. She was 8.12 lbs and 20.75" long.