News & Events

Dr. Bridget Tenner, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, is the 2020 recipient of the College of Science and Health's Excellence in Research Award. Congratulations Dr. Tenner!

Dr. Tenner joined DePaul in 2007 and was promoted to Professor in 2017. Her research as a combinatorialist focuses on the mathematics of discrete structures and specifically highlights her interests in algebraic, enumerative, and topological questions. Early in her career she developed an electronic database for pattern avoiding permutations, which was among the first such resources in the field. She has authored over 40 publications covering topics on the combinatorics of partially ordered sets, permutations, boolean complexes, sorting algorithms, and Coxeter groups, illustrating the depth and breadth of her research record. The recognition of the excellence in her quality of work has provided funding from various internal grants and most notably, an external Collaboration Grant for Mathematicians from the Simons Foundation. Dr. Tenner’s research has been published in premier journals and has been cited 436 times according to Google Scholar. As an internationally recognized expert in combinatorics, her innovative work will have an enduring impact on her colleagues, students and the field of mathematical sciences.

In Autumn 2019, the department welcomed three new Term Assistant Professors to the faculty: Peter Caithamer, Joanna Furno, and Eric Malitz.

Dr. Caithamer earned his PhD in Mathematics from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1997. Since then, Dr. Caithamer has taught at such institutions as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the U.S. Military Academy, the University of Southern Indiana, Indiana University Northwest, the University of Wisconsin-Marinette, Lewis University, and Illinois State University.

Dr. Furno earned her PhD in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013. Prior to joining the faculty at DePaul University, Dr. Furno held positions at the University of Houston, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Wesleyan University, and Dickinson College.

Dr. Malitz earned his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019. Prior to joining the faculty at DePaul University, Dr. Malitz taught courses at ITT Tech, Northwestern College, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Roosevelt University.

To each of our new Term Assistant Professors: Welcome!

Effective July 1, 2019, the Department of Mathematical Sciences welcomes its newest Assistant Professor, Dr. Emily Barnard.

A Chicagoland native, Dr. Barnard earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, and then earned her PhD in Mathematics from North Carolina State University in 2017. Before joining the faculty at DePaul, Dr. Barnard was a Zelevinsky Research Instructor at Northeastern University in Boston, where she earned an award for outstanding teacher of first year engineering students. Dr. Barnard's research mainly focuses on the combinatorics of posets, and her work has appeared in such journals as the Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics, the Annals of Combinatorics, and Algebraic Combinatorics

Welcome, Dr. Barnard!

After 40 years of service to DePaul University, Professor Carolyn "Lynn" Narasimhan is retiring.

Professor Narasimhan earned her PhD in Mathematics in 1977, before joining the faculty at DePaul University in 1979. She was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1983 and then to the rank of Professor in 2006. In her time at DePaul, Professor Narasimhan held numerous leadership positions, including Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences (1987-1989), Associate Dean of the College of LIberal Arts and Sciences (1989-2011), Director of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Center (2000-2011), and most recently Chair of the STEM Studies Department and Director of the STEM Center (2011-present). Through her work with the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Center and later the STEM Center, Professor Narasimhan was awarded grants from such organizations as the NSF, Space Science for Illinois Teachers, Algebra Common Core Leadership Program, Department of Education/Illinois State Board of Education, Chicago STEM Education Consortium, Building a STEM Pipeline in Chicago, National Science Foundation, Funding Undergraduate Women Scientists, and the Luce Foundation. Professor Narasimhan was recognized with the DePaul Excellence in Teaching award in 1992, with the Spirit of DePaul award in 2010, and the Service and Leadership Award from the Illinois Louis B. Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in 2013.

Effective July 1, 2019, Department of Mathematical Sciences faculty member Juan Hu has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure. Congratulations Dr. Hu!

Dr. Hu joined the faculty at DePaul University in 2013 after earning her PhD in Statistics from Purdue University under the direction of Hao Zhang. Dr. Hu's research interests focus on geospatial data modeling, massive data analysis, nonparametric modeling, and nonlinear models.

In Autumn 2018 the department welcomed new Term Assistant Professor Javid Validashti. Dr. Validashti earned his PhD in Mathematics from Purdue University in 2007. He then held postdoctoral positions at the University of Kansas and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an Assistant Professor position at Cleveland State University before joining the faculty at DePaul University.

Dr. Validashti's research interests are in commutative algebra, algebraic geometry and combinatorics, with particular interest in multiplicity theory and its applications in algebraic, geometric and combinatorial structures.

As part of the Academic Initiatives Program, in 2017-2018 DePaul University established a series of Faculty Recognition Grants, intended to recognize the research and creative activities of faculty members who have obtained the rank of Professor, have a recent history of significant research or creative accomplishments, and who are currently pursuing a specific line of inquiry that shows promise of significant contributions in the future, and whose work supports DePaul’s mission. The Faculty Research Grants provide research support for two years.

One of the inaugural awardees in this program is Professor Ahmed Zayed. This award recognizes Dr. Zayed's research in the field of mathematical analysis, with a focus on sampling theory, fractional transforms, and chromatic derivatives. Congratulations Dr. Zayed!

Effective July 1, 2018, Department of Mathematical Sciences faculty member T. Kyle Petersen has been promoted to the rank of Professor. This is the highest academic rank that tenured faculty at DePaul University can earn. Congratulations Dr. Petersen!

Dr. Petersen earned his AB from Washington University in St. Louis, and earned his PhD from Brandeis University in 2006 under the direction of Ira Gessel. He spent three years at the University of Michigan before joining the faculty at DePaul in 2009. His research interests include all aspects of Enumerative, Algebraic, and Topological Combinatorics. Apart from his research, Dr. Petersen has been involved with the Academy of Inquiry-Based Learning, a community which seeks to promote a more student-centered approach to teaching.

Effective July 1, 2018, Department of Mathematical Sciences faculty members Enrico Au-Yeung and Karl Liechty have been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations Dr. Au-Yeung and Dr. Liechty!

Dr. Au-Yeung earned his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Maryland at College Park in May 2011. He then held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, before joining the faculty at DePaul University in 2014. Dr. Au-Yeung's research interests are in pure and applied harmonic analysis, mathematical signal processing, functional analysis, random matrices, and the geometry of Banach spaces.

Dr. Liechty  earned his PhD in mathematics in 2010 from Purdue University. After a semester as a postdoctoral scholar at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute he then spent three years at the University of Michigan, before joining the faculty at DePaul University in 2014. Dr. Liechty's research interests are in random matrix theory and related problems in probability, statistical physics, and integrable systems.

Each year, the College of Science and Health acknowledge a CSH professor who regularly goes above and beyond his or her duties and responsibilities to mentor undergraduate students. The SGA representatives in the College of Science and Health award a professor who excels in being available, helpful, clear, and supportive, and whose commitment to mentoring students should be recognized by the CSH as well as the university community. Model educators truly challenge and prepare students inside and outside of the classroom and lab for a future in the fields of science and health.

The 2018 recipient of the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award is Assistant Professor Enrico Au-Yeung. Congratulations Dr. Au-Yeung!

Each year, the College of Science and Health recognizes faculty who have made significant scientific contributions in their area of research by bestowing the Excellence in Research Award and Mid-Career Excellence in Research Award upon deserving faculty. This year's recipient of the Mid-Career Excellence in Research Award is Dr. Kyle Petersen.

Dr. Petersen joined DePaul in 2009 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2013. Dr. Petersen’s research focuses on algebraic, enumerative, and topological combinatorics. He has published 30 peer-reviewed research articles in journals such as Advances in Mathematics, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, and the American Mathematical Monthly, and has delivered 52 research presentations. Dr. Petersen is also the author of a book, Eulerian Numbers, in which he explains how Eulerian numbers arise in the study of hyperplane arrangements, polytopes, and simplicial complexes. In his time at DePaul, Dr. Petersen has received external funding for his research from the Simons Foundation, the National Security Agency, and the Educational Advancement Foundation. Dr. Petersen is also the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award and has been involved with the Academy of Inquiry-Based Learning, a community which seeks to promote a more student-centered approach to teaching.