A task force of the American Mathematical Society, in a report to be released next year, singles out the MU mathematics department for excellence and innovation in several areas:
The Task Force on Excellence in Mathematics Scholarship is charged with examining the problems of math departments at research universities. Its goal is to discover innovative methods that universities use to deal with problems and to distribute those ideas for national use.
Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Exon Education Foundation, the task force consists of 14 mathematicians from a variety of departments and is chaired by Mort Lowengrub, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University.
Chair Elias Saab says he appreciates the role the University administration has played in the department's recognition by the task force.
"At the University of Missouri, the administration recognizes the link between graduate and undergraduate education," Saab says. "For the department to be successful, the administration and the faculty need to understand that this is a package. The administration is aware of the contributions of the department in undergraduate education, in involvement of undergraduates in research, in graduate education, and in research."
Saab says the administration sees the department as "outward-looking," as exemplified by the department's interest in the mathematical needs of other disciplines. He pointed to recent discussions on coordinating the use of technology to assist the engineering curriculum in its math requirements. Task force member Carl Cowen of Purdue University visited MU the past November to meet with the following department representatives: Saab, John Beem, director of undergraduate studies, Nakhle Asmar, director of graduate studies, Sandy Athanassiou, lower division learning coordinator, and Nigel J. Kalton, Curators Professor. He also met with Interim Chancellor Richard Wallace, Provost Edward Sheridan, Dean Larry Clark and Dean Jim Thompson of the College of Engineering.