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Semiconductor Research Advanced by UCLA Math and Computer Science Team (December 2007) |
Groundbreaking techniques for the design of very large integrated circuits are being celebrated by a UCLA research team, including UCLA Mathematics Professor and current NSF Assistant Director for Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) Tony Chan, and UCLA Computer Sciences chair Professor Jason Cong. Their research breakthrough is featured in Forbes online at (Forbes link) |
2007 Fermat Prize Awarded to New Faculty Member Chandrashekhar Khare (November 2007) |
UCLA Mathematics Professor Chandrashekhar Khare, who joined the department this July, was awarded the 2007 Fermat Prize for Mathematics Research by the Université Paul Sabatier. Khare was recognized for his proof of Serre's modularity conjecture in number theory in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Wintenberger. Initiated in 1987 in honor of mathematician Pierre de Fermat and awarded every two years, the prize focuses on contributions to Fermat's research in the fields of statements of variational principles, foundations of probability and analytical geometry, and number theory. The spirit of the award specifically honors research accessible to the greatest number of professional mathematicians within these fields and recognizes mathematicians less than 45 years of age. Khare will be formally honored at a presentation and award ceremony in Toulouse, France next spring. Previous winners in number theory include K.A. Ribet (1989), J. L. Colliot-Thélène (1991), A.J. Wiles (1995), R.L. Taylor (2001), and P. Colmez (2005). |
UCLA Math Algebra Readiness Text Adopted by California (November 2007) |
On November 8, the California State Board of Education adopted the Math Content Program for Teachers and Students' (MCPT) algebra readiness program, Introduction to Algebra. Led by Executive Director Shelley Kriegler and faculty advisor Professor Ted Gamelin, MCPT has spent the last two years developing the program. With its formal adoption by the state, the text will be widely available to California public middle schools to increase the achievement of struggling students. MCPT is part of UCLA Math's Philip C. Curtis Jr. Center for Mathematics and Teaching dedicated to high quality pre-collegiate mathematics activity. Some of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to support the department and mathematics education programs at the Curtis Center. For more information on the program and MCPT, visit www.introtoalg.org and www.math.ucla.edu/mcpt. |
UCLA Math Alumna Wins APS Best Publication Award (November 2007) |
Former UCLA Math graduate student Amber Puha was awarded the Applied Probability Society (APS) Best Publication Award for 2007 for three papers with co-authors H. Christian Gromoll and Ruth J. Williams. Puha completed her PhD at UCLA under Professor Thomas Liggett in 1998 and was a recipient of the Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Student Award. She is currently Associate Professor in mathematics at California State University, San Marcos. |
Tony F. Chan Elected as AAAS Fellow (October 2007) |
In October, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Council elected UCLA Mathematics Professor Tony Chan as a fellow in mathematics. Currently the Assistant Director for Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) at NSF, Chan will be recognized for his distinguished accomplishments to science and technology at the Fellows Forum on February 16, 2008, in Boston, along with other newly elected fellows. "Triple A-S" is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science worldwide and publishes the journal Science, the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. For more information, visit http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/fellows/2007.shtml |
UCLA Math Fall 2007 Newsletter Available Online (October 2007) |
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Los Angeles Mathematics Circle (LAMC) Comes Full Circle to UCLA Math (September 2007) |
On Sunday, September 23, Philip C. Curtis Jr. Center for Mathematics and Teaching Executive Director Heather Calahan welcomed 54 students to LAMC's first meeting. LAMC is coordinated by Assistant Adjunct Professor Olga Radko, who also led the session on the game of Nim. LAMC will feature department faculty members and lecturers, who will meet with local middle and high school students on Sunday afternoons to discuss classical mathematics topics, solve problems, and train for competitions. Professor Radko views the program as an exciting opportunity to enhance the department's commitment to early math education and inspire young students: "The idea is for mathematicians to show beautiful mathematics to schoolchildren." Visit www.curtiscenter.math.ucla.edu/mathcircle for more information and to sign up. |
New Faculty Member Joseph Teran Featured Speaker at IDF 2007 (September 2007) |
UCLA Mathematics Assistant Professor Joseph Teran, who joined the department this summer, is a featured speaker at the Intel Developer Forum Fall 2007. As part of Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner's keynote talk "Virtual Worlds - The Rise of the 3D Internet," Teran demonstrated the finite element cutter/simulator used in virtual surgery applications. UCLA Math alum Ron Fedkiw, who received his PhD under Professor Stan Osher in 1996, later showcased special effects, featuring UCLA postdoc Eftychios Sifakis' rigid/deformable coupling and facial simulators. To view the webcast, visit http://inteldeveloperforum.com.edgesuite.net/fall_2007/070920_JR/msh.htm.Teran's research is also currently featured in the UCLA newsroom online, the Daily Bruin and Scientific American at (UCLA newsroom link) , (Daily Bruin link) , and (Scientific American link) |
New Faculty Member Yehuda Shalom Arrives with Erdös Prize (September 2007) |
UCLA Mathematics Professor Yehuda Shalom, who joined the department this summer, was awarded the prestigious 2007 Erdös Prize in Mathematics by the Israel Mathematical Union in May for his "impressive ability to establish deep theorems by combining ideas and methods from different fields." The Erdös prize is awarded to an Israeli mathematician (pure, applied or from computer science), with preference to candidates who are 40 years old or younger. Shalom's work lays at the intersection of ergodic theory, Lie groups and geometric group theory. |
Terence Tao Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London (August 2007) |
For his contributions to analysis, Professor Terence Tao was among six mathematicians elected as new fellows (and foreign members) of the Royal Society of London in May. As a native Australian and member of the Commonwealth, Tao presented his work at the society's annual New Fellows Seminar in July along with forty-four scientists who were declared to be at the cutting edge of science, engineering and medicine in the UK, the Commonwealth and beyond. For a full announcement, visit http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?year=&id=6651 |
2007 Commencement Speaker Danica McKellar Publishes Math Book for Girls (August 2007) |
Declaring math to be her "secret weapon" for success, 1998 UCLA math alumna Danica McKellar delivered the Department's 2007 commencement address to an enthusiastic crowd of student fans. Best known for her roles on the television series "The Wonder Years" and "The West Wing," Danica also co-authored The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem and has been an ardent promoter of girls' math education. Her new book "Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail" gives aspiring female mathematicians the tools to master math concepts that relate to real life. To view her entertaining and inspiring address, visit http://www.uclalumni.net/NewsLinks/home.cfm |
Curtis Center for Mathematics and Teaching Established (August 2007) |
The UCLA Department of Mathematics is delighted to announce the establishment of the Philip C. Curtis Jr. Center for Mathematics and Teaching. The Curtis Center is dedicated to developing and supporting quality mathematics programs that interface with the K-12 community, including outreach programs for K-12 students, professional development programs for K-12 teachers, and teacher preparation programs for UCLA undergraduates. For more details, see the full announcement of the establishment of the Curtis Center at www.math.ucla.edu/education/matheducation.shtml |
UCLA Math Student Awarded Clay Liftoff Fellowship (May 2007) |
The Clay Mathematics Institute has named UCLA Mathematics Ph.D. student Adrian Ioana as a 2007 Clay Liftoff fellow. He completed his thesis "Rigidity results in the orbit equivalence theory of non-amenable groups" under Professor Sorin Popa. Ioana will use the Liftoff award in summer 2007 at Texas A&M University under Professor Gilles Pisier and has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech in fall 2007. The Clay Liftoff Fellowships are awarded to young mathematicians who have demonstrated mathematical research of quality and significance, and who show the potential to be leaders in their field. |
AMS Honors UCLA Mathematics with Award - View the full award article in the June/July 2007 Notices of the AMS (April 2007) |
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) has presented its second annual 2007 Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department to the UCLA Department of Mathematics. The award recognizes a department that has distinguished itself by undertaking an unusual or particularly effective program of value to the mathematics community, internally or in relation to the rest of society. AMS cited UCLA Math's comprehensive vision for its undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and K-12 math education programs, as well as its important interactions with the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), and "providing an outstanding model of all that a mathematics department can be." See additional links:
AMS UCLA Today UCLA Home |
UCLA Math SIAM/ACM Prize Winners (April 2007) |
Former UCLA Math student and Brown University mathematics professor Chi-Wang Shu received the 2007 SIAM/ACM Prize in Computational Science and Engineering at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering in Costa Mesa in February. Shu completed his PhD at UCLA under Professor Stanley Osher in 1986. UCLA Math Professor-in-Residence Achi Brandt received the prize in 2005. For more about the award, see http://www.siam.org/prizes/sponsored/cse.php |
New York Times Features Professor Terence Tao (March 2007) |
In a front page Science Times feature of the March 13, 2007 edition of The New York Times, UCLA mathematics professor and 2006 Fields medalist Terence Tao is profiled with a special focus on his January 17, 2007, standing room only colloquia on "Structure and Randomness in the Prime Numbers." The article can be viewed at this link (registration required). Also, a webcast of the lecture can be seen at http://www.webcast.ucla.edu |
Professor Stanley Osher Receives USACM Award (January 2007) |
The United States Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) has awarded UCLA Mathematics Professor Stan Osher its 2007 Computational and Applied Sciences Award for his pioneering work in high resolution schemes for hyperbolic conservation laws and Hamilton-Jacobi equations, level set methods for moving fronts involving topological changes, and total variation and PDE based image processing techniques. The award will be given at the 9th U.S. National Congress in Computational Mechanics to be held in San Francisco on July 23-26, 2007. |
Math Grad Receives Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Student Award (January 2007) |
UCLA Mathematics PhD student Ronald Lok Ming Liu has been chosen to receive the Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Student Award for 2006-2007. The annual awards are based on faculty recommendations and honor graduate students who have demonstrated exemplary academic achievement, research and university citizenship. |
First Endowed Chair in Mathematics (January 2007) |
UCLA Mathematics Professor Terence Tao has become the first scholar appointed to UCLA's James and Carol Collins Chair in the College of Letters and Science. Visionary donors and UCLA alumni Jim and Carol Collins gave the College a $1 million gift to endow this chair. While the vast majority of endowed chairs are designated in one particular field, the Collins Chair may be awarded to a professor in any of the College's more than 30 departments. Collins said he and his wife are "delighted" that Tao has been appointed and said Tao is "one of a kind." |
Professor Terence Tao Receives Multiple Awards (January 2007) |
After becoming the first mathematics professor in UCLA history to win the prestigious Fields Medal in August 2006, Professor Terence Tao continues to be recognized for his outstanding achievements. In September, Tao was chosen to receive one of 25 "genius grants" from the MacArthur Foundation. October's Popular Science named him one of the "Brilliant 10" scientists and researchers. In December, he was awarded the 2006 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize for his extreme versatility, working with a wide range of collaborators, in number theory, harmonic analysis, representation theory and partial differential equations, as well as for his impact in combinatorics and ergodic theory. Most recently, Tao is the recipient of the Ostrowski prize 2005 for his exceptional work in the area of analytic and combinatorial number theory along with Professor Ben Green of the University of Cambridge. The prize ceremony will take place in Leiden, The Netherlands, in April 2007. |
UCLA Mathematics & Teaching Conference Winter 2007 (January 2007) |
On February 10, 2007, several UCLA math education programs and UCLA Mathematics will host a winter conference for local mathematics instructors to learn strategies for effective teaching and to increase their understanding of math content. For registration and schedule, see MAT flier |
Tao to Present UCLA Science Faculty Research Colloquia (January 2007) |
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