Praising the mathematics department for "tremendous progress" made in recent years, the report of the 1999 Outside Review Team compliments this department in all categories from hiring to undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral programs.
Professors Donald Burkholder of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a member of the National Academy of Science, and Robert Lazarsfeld of the University of Michigan led the review.
They cited enhanced resources provided by University administration and wise department use of those resources as having had a dramatic effect on the scientific quality of the department.
"Recent appointments have been outstanding, and the department has been very aggressive in trying to follow up on these achievements in other areas as well," the reviewers wrote. "Our sense was that the administration and the department share a very justifiable pride in all that has been accomplished."
The reviewers made these observations:
New appointments resulting from enhancement have created a core of active young researchers who will contribute to the scientific life of the department for years to come. A proposal to build up a group in computational mathematics is an excellent idea, and the "substantial" amount of research collaboration among the faculty is impressive.
MU has reached the level at which it should be competitive in any major funding program. Proposals will have to be prepared with particular care to ensure that the reviewing bodies are fully aware of the recent achievements of the department.
The highly visible series of conferences in mathematics held at MU over the past few years is providing long-term benefits to the department. "Our impression is that the reputation of the department is steadily growing and that the recent achievements of the department are becoming more and more widely known." The reviewers advised the department and the administration not to become discouraged if it takes longer than anticipated for MU's accomplishments to be universally recognized.
The reviewers praise the high quality in the oversight and administration of precalculus courses and the teaching materials developed for those courses. Calculus courses provide "a good balance between textbook-lecture and computer-assisted instruction." The reviewers urge the department to maintain the priority of small classes and engaging teachers: "Usually, and contrary to the impression often given by the media, the best teachers of undergraduate mathematics are the best research mathematicians, who can convey the fun, wonder and utility of the subject."
The level of students in the Graduate Program is "impressive," as is the "thriving" master's degree program, directed largely at students wishing to teach at the community college level. Student interviews showed that the students believe the teaching they do as part of the program puts them in a competitive position to secure employment after graduation: "All the graduate students with whom we spoke seemed to have very positive impressions of the atmosphere and mathematical quality of life in the department."
An active and flourishing postdoctoral program is a critical part of the top research programs in mathematics, and MU's postdoctoral positions should be continued and enhanced.
The review team met with representatives of other departments and schools and concluded that those units were "uniformly impressed with the achievements of the mathematics department, and with the training the department provided to their students."