Arizona State University
Department of Mathematics
The Department of Mathematics offers graduate study leading to the Ph.D. and the M.A. degrees in many areas of mathematics. In particular, the department has strengths in algebra, analysis, computational mathematics, control and system science, differential equations, discrete mathematics, dynamical systems and chaos, mathematical biology, mathematics education, number theory, and statistics. The department also participates in the Master of Science degree in statistics and the Master of Natural Science (M.N.S.) degree for interdisciplinary study, for which a thesis is not required. In collaboration with the College of Education, the Department of Mathematics offers a new option for the M.N.S. that leads to high school certification.
The Community
The state of Arizona is famous worldwide for its great natural beauty, from Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon in the north to the Sonoran Desert in the south. The University is centrally located in Tempe, one of several neighboring cities occupying the wide expanse of the Salt River Valley (known locally as the Valley of the Sun). The population of Tempe is close to 150,000, and the city combines the advantages of a moderate-sized, university-oriented community with the cultural and technical resources of a major metropolitan area. Phoenix is home to major electronics and aerospace industries, to the mutual benefit of the company and the University.
Programs of study
The Ph.D. program is intended for the student with superior mathematical ability and emphasizes the development of creative scholarship and breadth and depth in background knowledge. A doctoral student must take certain advanced courses during his or her first year and take two qualifying examinations. After successful completion of the qualifying examinations, each student must take written and oral comprehensive exams covering more advanced material. A reading knowledge of a foreign language is also required. After the examinations are passed, a dissertation that constitutes an original contribution to the discipline must be written. The master's program offers students with a bachelor's degree in mathematics or related fields an opportunity to broaden their knowledge by undertaking course work at the graduate level. A master's degree student must pass two written examinations and complete a thesis. Precise requirements differ as to the area of study. Written examinations for the master's and Ph.D. programs are highly integrated. Exams passed at the appropriate level in the master's program may fulfill Ph.D. examination requirements.
Facilities & Resources
There are 59 faculty members in the department, and their research interests cover most aspects of mathematics, including education. The Daniel E. Noble Science Library, a member of the Center for Research Libraries, has a very good holding of mathematical texts and journals; its operations are fully computerized to aid in literature searches. The central Computing Services facilities are offered at no charge to the University community for use in academic pursuits. The department has an advanced computing facility built around a network of high-performance UNIX workstations (HP, Sun, and Silicon Graphics) that feature state-of-the-art graphics and numerous scientific packages. The University also has several clusters of high-performance UNIX workstations, a Silicon Graphics Power Challenge Supercomputer with six processors, and access to electronic mail for all students.
Expenses and Aid
Financial assistance for graduate students is available through teaching and research assistantships. The department also has a few in-state and out-of-state tuition waivers available. Currently, seventy teaching assistantships are assigned each semester. Research assistantships are usually reserved for advanced students. Teaching and research assistants must enroll for a minimum of 6 semester hours of graduate credit their first semester, and 9 semester hours each subsequent semester. They receive scholarships covering nonresident tuition but must pay the usual in-state registration fee each semester. A Ph.D. student may expect to be supported for up to five years, a master's degree student for up to five semesters.
How to Apply
Application forms for financial support, as well as additional information about the department and its programs, can be obtained by sending an e-mail request to grad@math.la.asu.edu. Students can apply to the Graduate College via the web at http://www.asu.edu/graduate. All applicants must submit a completed application form and transcripts of academic records to the Graduate College of the University. GRE General Test scores are required. They must also submit to the Department of Mathematics at least three letters of recommendation from persons who are familiar with their qualifications to pursue graduate study in mathematics. Application materials may be submitted at any time. However, to be considered for teaching assistantships, applications must be received by March 1 for fall semester applications and October 1 for spring semester applications. Late applicants will be considered only if there are vacancies.
Who to contact
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Mathematics, Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona 85287-1804
Telephone: 480-965-3951
E-mail: grad@math.la.asu.edu
The Faculty and Their Research
Dieter Armbruster, Professor; Ph.D., Tubingen (Germany), 1984. Bifurcations, dynamical systems.
Steven Baer, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Chicago, 1984. Bifurcation analysis, numerical methods, neurobiology.
Helene Barcelo, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California, San Diego, 1988. Algebraic combinatorics.
Douglas Blount, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1987. Probability theory.
Andrew Bremner, Professor; Ph.D., Cambridge, 1978. Number theory.
Joaquin Bustoz, Professor, Ph.D., Arizona State, 1967. Classical analysis.
Marilyn P. Carlson, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Kansas, 1995. Mathematics education. Nancy Childress, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State, 1985. Number theory, arithmetic geometry.
Andrzej Czygrinow, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Emory, 1998. Discrete mathematics. Michael Driscoll, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Arizona, 1971. Statistics.
Genghua Fan, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Waterloo, 1988. Graph theory.
Frank D. Farmer, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Washington (Seattle), 1970. Combinatorial algebraic topology.
Alan Feldstein, Professor; Ph.D., UCLA, 1964. Numerical analysis, computer science, applied mathematics.
Carl Gardner, Associate Professor; Ph.D., MIT, 1981. Computational fluid dynamics, semiconductor analysis and simulation.
Anne Gelb, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Brown, 1996. Numerical analysis.
Matthew J. Hassett, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Rutgers, 1966. Mathematics of finance. Jon Helton, Professor; Ph.D., Texas at Austin, 1970. Analysis, summability, application of mathematics to the biological sciences.
Frank C. Hoppensteadt, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1965. Differential equations, mathematical biology.
Glenn Hurlbert, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Rutgers, 1990. Discrete mathematics.
Edwin Ihrig, Professor; Ph.D., Toronto, 1974. General relativity.
Zdzislaw Jackiewicz, Professor, Ph.D., Gdansk (Poland), 1980. Numerical analysis.
Don Jones, Assistant Professor Ph.D., California, Irvine, 1992. Partial differential equations. John Jones, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Harvard, 1987. Arithmetic geometry, lwasawa theory.
Kevin Kadell, Professor; Ph.D., Penn State, 1979. Algebraic combinatorics, classical analysis.
Steven Kaliszewski, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Dartmouth, 1994. Operator algebras. Matthias Kawski, Professor; Ph.D., Colorado at Boulder, 1986. Control theory, differential geometry, analysis.
Henry Kierstead, Professor; Ph.D., California, San Diego, 1979. Discrete mathematics.
Eric Kostelich, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Maryland, 1985. Differential equations, dynamical systems.
Yang Kuang, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Alberta, 1988. Dynamical systems, mathematical biology, differential equations.
Hendrik Kuiper, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1971. Partial differential equations, numerical analysis.
Lynn Kurtz, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Utah, 1964. Functional analysis.
Philip Leonard, Professor; Ph.D., Penn State, 1968. Algebra, number theory.
Sharon Lohr, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1987. Statistics.
Juan Lopez, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Monash (Australia), 1985. Computational mathematics, fluid dynamics.
Alex Mahalov, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Cornell, 1991. Applied mathematics, fluid dynamics.
Joan H. McCarter, Associate Professor; M.A., Arizona, 1958. Mathematics education.
John McDonald, Professor; Ph.D., Rutgers, 1969. Convexity, complex analysis.
Hans Mittelmann, Professor; Ph.D., Darmstadt (Germany), 1973. Numerical analysis, scientific computing.
J. Douglas Moore, Associate Professor Ph.D., Syracuse, 1969. Algebra, automata theory. Basil Nicolaenko, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan, 1968. Nonlinear partial differential equations, infinite dimensional dynamical systems.
Sergey Nikitin, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Moscow, 1987. Control theory, dynamical systems.
Kathryn Prewitt, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California, Davis, 1991. Statistics.
John Quigg, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Drexel, 1979. Operator algebras.
Rosemary Renaut, Professor; Ph.D., Cambridge, 1985. Numerical analysis, computational mathematics.
Christian Ringhofer, Professor; Ph.D., Vienna, 1981. Numerical analysis.
Hal Smith, Professor; Ph.D., Iowa, 1976. Differential equations, dynamical systems, mathematical biology.
Harvey Smith, Professor; Ph.D., Pennsylvania, 1964. Functional analysis, mathematical modeling.
John Spielberg, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1985. Operator algebras.
Sergei Suslov, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Kurchatov Institute (Moscow), 1986. Classical analysis, mathematical physics.
Alvin Swimmer, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1963. Geometry, tensor analysis, Grassmann algebra, geometric design.
Tom Taylor, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Harvard, 1983. Nonlinear control theory, stochastic processes, filtering, dynamical systems.
Horst Thieme, Professor; Ph.D., Munster (Germany), 1976. Differential equations, mathematical modeling.
William Trotter, Regents Professor; Ph.D., Alabama, 1969. Combinatorics, graph theory. James Turner, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon, 1986. Computational math. Neil Weiss, Professor; Ph.D., UCLA, 1970. Probability theory, statistics and probability education.
Bruno Welfert, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California, San Diego, 1990. Numerical analysis. Dennis L. Young, Professor; Ph.D., Purdue, 1970. Statistics.
Michelle Zandieh, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Oregon, 1997. Mathematics education.
Yijun Zuo, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Texas at Dallas, 1998. Statistics.