Notes from the Chair

The second three-year term of our former department head, Joe Fu, ended in June and Joe is now very deservedly enjoying his freedom from administrative duties. I took the reins in July, and although the honeymoon period is already wearing thin, I am excited to have a chance to lead this department through the next few years.

In spite of continuing stringent budget restrictions, mathematics at UGA continues to flourish. Of course, in the end, all that a mathematician really needs for happiness is a piece of chalk, a blackboard, and someone with whom to share thoughts. That last requirement is the toughest one: we need to travel to conferences, to invite outside visitors, and to recruit the high caliber students we are used to in order to explore our ideas in a critical atmosphere and to gain inspiration from the ideas of others. We have been very fortunate to have found funds through these tough years to keep this type of activity at an invigorating level.

Foremost among these funds, the NSF VIGRE grant has helped to bring in amazingly strong cohorts of graduate students and post docs as well as funding a steady stream of visiting experts to share ideas with these students. Perhaps the top news of the year is that the department passed the third year review for the VIGRE grant so now we can expect the funding to continue for another two years. Looking ahead, the sad news is that the VIGRE program at NSF is being discontinued, so these next two years will be our last. I see one of my greatest challenges to be the transition to the “post-VIGRE” period.

As I compile this newsletter I am proud to see the consistently high level of activity and achievements in the department. Both our undergraduate and graduate programs are growing stronger every day. The number of undergraduate majors has a positive derivative and many students are winning impressive awards (see the note on Betsy Katz). Our faculty continue to win teaching awards because they really care about helping their students learn math (three cheers to Ed Azoff). Our VIGRE research groups in our graduate program are considered a model for graduate education nationwide. At the research level we have had three high profile conferences bringing in some of the best mathematicians in the nation and the world. And again, our faculty continue to distinguish themselves with impressive awards with Dan Nakano earning the designation of Distinguished Research Professor.

Well, those of you who have been my students know that it is sometimes hard for me to stop talking, but I think I have rambled on enough. Please keep in touch with us and let us know what you are up to.

Sincerely,

Malcolm Adams