News
John Rafter Receives Gilliam Teaching Award
October 25, 2011 – John Rafter, senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, is the recipient of the 2011 Harriet S. Gilliam Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Lecturers and Senior Lecturers. Rafter received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Vanderbilt in 1994. He entered the business world with Aspect Communications, also serving as an adjunct instructor at Vanderbilt...
Workshop Explores CFT and von Neumann Algebras
October 24, 2011 – The Department of Mathematics hosted a two-day Shanks Workshop on “Conformal Field Theory and Von Neumann Algebras” October 29-30, 2011. The workshop explored the deep connections between CFT and the theory of subfactors and planar algebras. A subfactor is a group-like object that can be used to investigate the symmetries of quantum physical or statistical...
Top Ranking for Our Graduate Program in New NRC Report
October 11, 2011 – The Ph.D. program of the Vanderbilt mathematics department received high ratings in a new report from the National Research Council (NRC) that offers insights into the quality of doctoral programs in mathematics at research universities in the United States. Released in September 2010, the new report no longer provides a definite ranking of programs, but...
New Academic Year Features Busy Conference Lineup
August 22, 2011 – Several exciting conferences and workshops are scheduled for the 2011-2012 academic year, demonstrating the department’s support for faculty-organized conferences that bring mathematicians from all over the world to Vanderbilt each year. The events kick off with a Shanks Workshop organized by the department’s newest faculty member, Fields Medalist, Vaughan Jones, and Department Chair Dietmar Bisch....
Constructive Approximation Ranks 10th Out of 277 Mathematics Journals
August 1, 2011 – Constructive Approximation, an internationally recognized mathematics journal headquartered in the Vanderbilt Department of Mathematics, was ranked No. 10 out of 277 mathematics journals by Journal Citation Reports. Journal Citation Reports ranks mathematics and other scientific journals based on their impact factor: the frequency with which their articles are cited in other scientific journals and books...
Student Award Winners Honored at Annual Ceremony
May 25, 2011 – Three graduate students and two undergraduates were recognized recently at the Department of Mathematics’ annual student awards ceremony. This year’s graduate honors went to Tara Davis and Hang Wang, who tied for excellence in teaching, and to Thomas Sinclair for outstanding research. Mathematics senior Joseph Thurman was recognized for undergraduate achievement along with runner-up Colin...
Graduate Student Wins Best Student Paper Award
May 25, 2011 – Graduate student Xuemei Chen won the award for best student paper at the 9th International Conference on Sampling Theory and Applications (SampTA) held at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in May 2011. Chen received the award for her paper titled “Stability and Robustness of Lq Minimization Using Null Space Property.” SampTA is an interdisciplinary conference...
International Symposium in Approximation Theory, May 17-21, 2011
April 21, 2011 – The International Symposium in Approximation Theory was held at Vanderbilt May 17-21, 2011, in conjunction with the 26th Annual Shanks Lecture. The aim of the symposium was to bring together researchers from diverse areas of approximation theory, to stimulate international collaboration, and to promote interaction and the exchange of ideas. The meeting was also an...
Ninth Annual NCGOA Spring Institute, May 9-18, 2011
April 20, 2011 – The Department of Mathematics hosted the Ninth Annual Spring Institute on Noncommutative Geometry and Operator Algebras May 9-18, 2011. The theme of the 2011 event was Index Theory and Hopf Algebras. The Spring Institute is a combination of spring school and international research conference. During the school portion of the meeting, mini-courses were given by...
New Issue of Departmental Newsletter Now Available
November 19, 2010 – The fall 2010 edition of Spectrum, the department’s biennial newsletter, has just been published. Highlights include our very strong showing in the recent National Research Council report of U.S. graduate programs in mathematics, and the announcement of a brand new award for postdoctoral research. For more news about our faculty and student activities, please download...