In-the-News

Math Students Hit One Out of the Park

October 25, 2011 By

$OUA Championship Trophy with Ryan and Tyler$ Tyler Wilson (left) and Ryan Donnelly (right) hold the OUA Championship Trophy after Sunday's game The Blues baseball team has now been twice honoured in the U of T Bulletin.

The first was a profile of the department’s own graduate student Ryan Donnelly and profiled his skills as a pitcher in a “game shortened, no-hitter” against the Gaels from Queen’s University.*

The second featured both Mr. Donnelly and another of our graduate students Mr. Tyler Wilson as it celebrated the Blues “8-4 victory over the Western Mustangs” to cinche the OUA Championship.**

According to Mr. Donnelly, there seems to be something about the sport of baseball that attracts mathematicians; perhaps it’s the meticulously repetitive nature of the pitching.

Whatever it may be we congratulate Ryan and Tyler and the entire Blues team for their great victory! Batter up!

*More on Ryan’s story can be read here
**More on the OUA Championship featuring Tyler can be read here (includes a short video of the game)

Filed Under: Events, In-the-News, Students

Professor George Elliott Interviewed by Science Watch

October 3, 2011 By

Science Watch recently interviewed Professor George Elliott from the University of Toronto, Department of Mathematics, on his recent article “On the Classification of Simple Inductive Limit C*-Algebras, II: The Isomorphism Theorem” as their August ”Emerging Research Front paper in the field of Mathematics”. The paper was co-written with Professors Guihua Gong and Liangqing Li from the University of Puerto Rico.

The article asks Professor Elliott and his co-writers such questions as:

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?
Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or synthesis of knowledge?
Would you summarize the significance of your paper in layman’s terms?
How did you become involved in this research, and how would you describe the particular challenges, setbacks, and successes that you’ve encountered along the way?
Where do you see your research leading in the future?
Do you foresee any social or political implications for your research?

The full article, with responses, can be found here

Filed Under: Faculty, In-the-News

Mathletes Do It Again!

May 28, 2011 By

Good News Everyone! The Mathletes VI have done it again, this year placing 1st in the Goodlife Toronto Team Marathon.

You can read all the results here

The winning runners were captained by Elio Mazzeo, and included Alex Bloemendal, Nataliya Laptyeva, Robert McCann, Matt Rideout, Didier Smets, and Mitsuru Wilson. They reached the podium at a time of 3:2:34.6, five minutes less than last year’s run when the team came in second.

On the same day, our graduate student Henning Petzka finished third in the half marathanon at a time of 1:14:48.0.

Thanks to the members of the department who contributed money to help towards the cost of running.

A further article on the event can be found here

Congratulations, Mathletes and Henning, we’re very proud of you all!

Filed Under: Faculty, In-the-News, Students

Math and all that Jazz

April 26, 2011 By

Recently PhD candidate Alex Bloemendal sat down with the University of Toronto’s Bulletin to talk about how his love of music, his passion for math and an “enthralling conversation about probability” was what drew him into the Specialist Mathematics program here in the Department.

The Bulletin calls Alex “a virtuoso on the piano” who’s “favourite toy [growing up] was his mother’s Texas Instruments calculator” and talks about how there “is a common understanding among mathematicians that math is in fact the basis of sound. Time, rhythm, meter, intervals and harmony all have a firm grounding in math.”

It then goes on to talk how, after some tough decisions, and a conversation with our own Professor Jeremy Quastel, Alex decided on doing his undergraduate degree right here at UofT.

The full article can be found on Page 8 here: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bulletin/PDF_issues/04-19-11_web.pdf

Filed Under: Alumni, In-the-News, Students

Staff Member Profiled

May 14, 2010 By

A reporter for the Faculty of Arts and Science News recently sat down with Ms. Ida Bulat, Graduate Administrator for the Department of Mathematics, to discuss her recent Student Life Award win and her thoughts on the award and her job in general.

In the article Ms. Bulat is quoted as saying: “I’m not here to get awards, I’m here to do my job.” The article is an excellent profile of the selflessness that Ms. Bulat shows towards her job and the department as a whole in her duties as Graduate Administrator.

The full article can be found here: http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/main/newsitems/ida-bulat

Filed Under: Awards, In-the-News, Staff Tagged With: Awards, In-the-News, Staff

UTSC Mathematics Professor Wins Coxeter-James Award

April 22, 2010 By

Professor Bálint Virág of the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences (UTSC) and the Graduate Departments of Mathematics and Statistics on the St. George campus has been awarded this year’s Coxeter-James prize in Mathematics.

From their website: The Coxeter-James Prize was inaugurated to recognize young mathematicians who have made outstanding contributions to mathematical research. The first award was presented in 1978.

Since it’s inception in 1978 eight other winners of the prize have been affiliated with the University of Toronto.

Congratulations to Professor Virag!

CMS Cover Page Article

March 25, 2010 By

$V. Kumar Murty$ The cover page editorial article for this month’s CMS Notes was written by Professor Kumar Murty, Chair of the Department of Mathematics. He also holds the position of Vice-President of the CMS.

The article is entitled “Mathematics in a Changing World” and describes the many challenges faced by mathematics departments across the country and the different ways to make the most of these changes.

Filed Under: Faculty, In-the-News Tagged With: Faculty, publications