News 2007-2008

• The first Michael Brin Prize in Dynamical Systems was awarded to Giovanni Forni at the Brin Prize session of the Spring 2008 Brinfest. For photos from that first Brin Prize session, click here .
• We are very pleased to welcome several new faculty members in fall 2007. These include two faculty members hired a year ago, but joining us now for the first time: Vadim Kaloshin (Michael Brin Chair in Mathematics) and Kartik Prasanna (Assistant Professor), as well as the following new hires: Radu Balan (Associate Professor, joint with CSCAMM, formerly at Siemens Corporation), Giovanni Forni (Professor, formerly Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto), Doron Levy (Associate Professor, joint with CSCAMM, formerly at Stanford University), and Antoine Mellet (Assistant Professor, formerly at the University of British Columbia).
• Professor William Goldman has been appointed a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in recognition of his outstanding research and mentoring of students, and was also invited to give the 28th William J. Spencer Lecture at Kansas State University.
• Professors Dmitry Dolgopyat and Konstantina Trivisa have been promoted to the rank of full professor, effective summer 2007. Congratulations! Konstantina Trivisa is also taking over as the new Director of the Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation program, effective July 1. Stuart Antman is taking over as the new Associate Chair for Faculty Affairs, effective July 2007.
• Professors Jim Fey, Rebecca Herb, and Henry King retired at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year. We wish them well in their future endeavors.
• Dean Halperin has announced that Professor James Yorke has agreed to serve as the new Chair of the Department, effective July 2007. Dean Halperin adds, "I also want to thank Mike Fitzpatrick for his outstanding and dedicated service during ten remarkable years as Chair. The superb quality of the faculty that have been recruited during his tenure have made this one of the best departments in the country, and that success augurs very well for the future. Please join me in welcoming Jim, and thanking Mike."
• With deep regret we announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Ryszard Syski, who had been at Maryland since 1961, on June 11, 2007. You can read a short tribute article and a scientific biography, both written on the occasion of his retirement for a special issue of the Journal of Applied Mathematics and Stochastic Analysis.
• Update, February, 2008: Professor Richard Wentworth, currently Chair of the Mathematics Department at Johns Hopkins, has agreed to join the department starting Fall 2008.
• Update, February, 2008: Assistant Professor Leonid Koralov has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, effective summer 2008. Congratulations!
• Update, April, 2008: Professor Mark Freidlin will give the Seventy-Sixth Kuwait Foundation Lecture at Cambridge University on April 29, 2008.
• Update, June, 2008: Professor Jonathan Rosenberg has been appointed to the Ruth M. Davis Professorship for 2008-2009.
• Update, June, 2008: Associate Professor Doron Levy's research has been attracting attention in the news media, such as Science News and the UM Newsdesk.