UAB Department of Mathematics
A Brief History of the UAB Department of Mathematics

Voice: (205) 934-2154 

FAX: (205) 934-9025

[ News | Math Home | UAB Home ]

Since its start in 1969, UAB has emerged as one of the major research universities in the country ranking 26th in the nation (between UC-Berkeley (#25) and the Univ. of Illinois-UC (#27)) in Federal research-and-development expenditures for 2002 with a total of $216,221,000. UAB is the only university in the State of Alabama which was in the recent Carnegie grouping for Research Universities I. The university has played a major part in the considerable improvements in the City of Birmingham over the last 35 years.

During these years of rapid growth of UAB, the Department of Mathematics has shown dramatic improvements as well. It was only in 1970 that the B.S. and M.S. degrees were first offered. During the 1970's new faculty were being hired and the beginnings of a push for research strength were taking place with an undergraduate program established and a graduate program underway. After some long and tedious political negotiations starting in 1985, the department received the right (from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama system) to offer the PhD degree starting in August of 1988. The first PhD award by the UAB Department of Mathematics was made to Robert Wallace in 1993. A complete list of graduates can be found at   http://www.math.uab.edu/alumni/phdalumni.html.

A major role in the development of the department has been played by the series of international conferences in differential equations and mathematical physics. The first UAB International Conference on Differential Equations and Mathematical Physics was held in March, 1981, organized by Ian Knowles and Roger Lewis. This was the beginning of an ongoing series of conferences held in 1981, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2005. In the 1990’s the conference was a joint series with the School of Mathematics at Georgia Institute of Technology where the conference was held in 1992 and 1997.

In 1986 the department received an NSF EPSCoR in Alabama award for the period 1986-1991 in order to enhance the competitiveness of mathematics research at UAB. Roger Lewis was the PI for this award. This support of approximately $1.25 million played a prominent role in accelerating the growth of mathematics research. Louis Dale is the PI for awards from the NSF for the Alliance for Minority Participation. Starting in 1991, these awards have amounted to $15 million support for minority students in the area. Dale is also the PI for an NSF award of $5 million for “The Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate” which began in 1996. Lex Oversteegen is the PI for an NSF award of $2.3 million for the period 2004-2009 for “A Broad Based Program to Produce Mathematics Professionals” which will support undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Mathematics – see http://www.math.uab.edu/programs/mctp.html. Peter O’Neil, Professor Emeritus, wrote the major portion of the proposal.

 

Research has always been an important part in the life of the Department of Mathematics even before the first NSF research award in 1980. During the past several years, the faculty has ranked among the top five in the Southeast with respect to the percentage of tenure-track faculty receiving NSF research grants. (The most recent data may be found at http://www.math.uab.edu/nsfranking.html.) As of September, 2004, the research of sixteen of the eighteen regular graduate faculty members has received support from the National Science Foundation. All regular graduate faculty members are active in research. Presently there are ongoing seminars in mathematical physics, nonlinear analysis, relativity theory, p.d.e. & geometry, and topological dynamics. Faculty members have won university awards for teaching and for scholarly distinction as well as a Fulbright Foundation Lecture and Research Award. Some have served as NSF panelists or on editorial boards for journals such as Annales of Henri Poincare, Journal of Statistical Physics, Journal of Computational Analysis and Applications, Communications on Applied Nonlinear Analysis, Empire of Mathematics, ORSA Journal on Computing, and IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems. Many others have received grants for student support, travel support, computing facilities as well as sizable grants for the Alliance for Minority Participation. Minority students make up approximately 30% of the student population. Since the graduate program in mathematics began, there have been several minority graduates and more than 50% of the graduates have been women.

Six faculty members have served as Department Chair: Arthur C. Segal (retired) (1969-71, 1975-78), Richard J. Crittenden (deceased) (1971-75), Peter V. O'Neil (1978-82) (Professor Emeritus), Roger T. Lewis (1984-87, 1997-2001) (Professor Emeritus), Lex G. Oversteegen (1987-97), and Rudi Weikard (2001-present). Louis Dale served as interim Chair during the period 1982-84. Two faculty members have served in the upper administration of the university. O'Neil was the Provost of UAB (1997-2000) and the Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics from 1982-1997. Since 1997, Dale has served as an Associate Dean, Associate Vice-President and is presently an Associate Provost. For the period 2001-2003, Lewis served as a Program Director for Analysis at the National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences in Arlington, VA. It is a team consisting of members from Australia, Austria, China, Congo, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, and the USA. The wide variety of experiences and expertise of this internationally known group has resulted in a much stronger mathematics program to offer to our students.

Many UAB undergraduate students of mathematics have chosen to continue their graduate work at UAB, while others have continued their studies at Auburn University, Brown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, The University of Florida, The University of Georgia, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Tennessee, and The University of Wisconsin - Madison where they have studied engineering, law, mathematics, medicine, and meteorology.

Students graduating with their Ph.D. from the UAB Department of Mathematics have a variety of opportunities available to them. Dr. Robert Sims (2001) held an NSF post-doctoral position at Princeton University for the years 2002-2004. Recent UAB students have received offers for positions at the University of Arizona, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, Cardiff University (U.K.), Cornell University, the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), the University of Illinois (U-C), the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of New Orleans, Northwestern University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Others have received offers from four-year schools. One Ph.D. graduate continued his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Law and presently works as a patent lawyer in New York City. Some students have received lucrative offers from industry, e.g., Raytheon Corp. in Alexandria, VA; William Wecker Associates, Inc., Novato, CA; and Imaging Business Machines, LLC, Birmingham, etc.

 

Appendix - Regular Tenure-Track Faculty Catalog Listings

           

Note: Deadlines on submission of catalog copy sometimes make it impossible to include new appointments or late resignations for the period of the catalog. Nevertheless, these listings are included to provide a partial sense of changes in the faculty over the years.

           

1966-67           Adrienne Rayl, Julia Brown, Mary B. Rumsey

           

1967-68           Adrienne Rayl (Chairman), Julia Brown, Margarita P. Medina, Mary B. Rumsey, Arthur C. Segal

           

1968-69           Adrienne Rayl (Chairman), Julia Brown, Gerald A. Hutchison, Margarita P. Medina, Mary B. Rumsey, Edward A. Sallin, Arthur C. Segal

           

1969-70           Adrienne Rayl (Chairman), Julia Brown, Gerald A. Hutchison, Margarita P. Medina, Mary B. Rumsey, Edward A. Sallin, Arthur C. Segal

           

1970-71           Arthur C. Segal (Acting Chairman) Thomas L. Alexander, John P. Anderson, Julia Brown, William H. Campbell, James Dupuy, Gerald A. Hutchison, Margarita P. Medina, Adrienne Rayl (Emeritus), Mary B. Rumsey, Edward A. Sallin, Douglas Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1971-72           Arthur C. Segal (Acting Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, John P. Anderson, Julia Brown, William H. Campbell, James S. Dupuy, Gerald A. Hutchison, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Margarita P. Medina, Adrienne Rayl (Emeritus), Mary B. Rumsey, Edward A. Sallin, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1972-73           Richard J. Crittenden (Chairman), Arthur C. Segal (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, Julia Brown, William H. Campbell, , Arthur C. Segal, James S. Dupuy, Shirley M. Edwards, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Walter F. Martens, Adrienne Rayl (Emeritus), Margarita P. Medina, Mary B. Rumsey, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne, Nathanael Pollard, Jr. (joint appointment at Miles College)

           

1973-74           Richard J. Crittenden (Chairman), Arthur C. Segal (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, Julia Brown, William H. Campbell, James S. Dupuy, Shirley M. Edwards, Julian Gevirtz, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Walter F. Martens, Margarita P. Medina, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne, Nathanael Pollard, Jr. (joint appointment at Miles College)

           

1974-75           Richard J. Crittenden (Chairman), Arthur C. Segal (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, Douglas R. Stocks, James D. Halpern, Ronson J. Warne, Margarita P. Medina, William H. Campbell, James S. Dupuy, Louis Dale, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Julian Gevirtz, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Walter F. Martens, Steve C. Tefteller, Loy O. Vaughan, Adrienne Rayl (Emeritus), Nathanael Pollard, Jr. (joint appointment at Miles College)

 

1975-76           Arthur C. Segal (Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, Douglas R. Stocks, James D. Halpern, Ronson J. Warne, Margarita P. Medina, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, James S. Dupuy, Louis Dale, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Julian Gevirtz, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, Steve C. Tefteller, Loy O. Vaughan, Adrienne Rayl (Emeritus), Nathanael Pollard, Jr. (joint appointment at Miles College)

           

1976-77           Arthur C. Segal (Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale, James S. Dupuy, Shirley M. Edwards, Julian Gevirtz, James D. Halpern, Gerald A. Hutchison, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, Margarita P. Medina, Lee K. Mohler, Mary B. Rumsey, Douglas R. Stocks, Steve C. Tefteller, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne, Steve S. Whitman

           

1977-79           Arthur C. Segal (Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale, James S. Dupuy, Julian Gevirtz, James D. Halpern, Gerald A. Hutchison (Deceased), Jeanne S. Hutchison, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, Margarita P. Medina, Lee K. Mohler, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne, Nathanael Pollard, Jr. (joint appointment at Miles College)

           

1979-81           Peter V. O'Neil (Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale, James S. Dupuy, James D. Halpern, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Ian W. Knowles, Letitia J. Korbly, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, Margarita P. Medina, Lee K. Mohler, Arthur C. Segal, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1981-83           Peter V. O'Neil (Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale (Acting Chairman in 1982-83), James S. Dupuy, James D. Halpern, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Ian W. Knowles, Letitia J. Korbly, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, Margarita P. Medina (Deceased), Lee K. Mohler, Karolyn A. Morgan, Lex G. Oversteegen, Arthur C. Segal, Douglas R. Stocks, Giuseppe Tenti, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1983-85           Roger T. Lewis (Chairman), Louis Dale (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, William H. Campbell, Richard J. Crittenden, James S. Dupuy, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Letitia J. Korbly, Walter F. Martens, Lee K. Mohler, Karolyn A. Morgan, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Arthur C. Segal, Douglas R. Stocks, Giuseppe Tenti, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1986-87           Roger T. Lewis (Chairman), Louis Dale (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, C. Leslie Coghlan, Richard J. Crittenden, James S. Dupuy, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Walter F. Martens, John C. Mayer, Lee K. Mohler, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Arthur C. Segal, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1987-89           Lex G. Oversteegen (Chairman), Richard J. Crittenden (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, James J. Buckley, C. Leslie Coghlan, Louis Dale (Associate Dean NS&M), James S. Dupuy, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yoe Itokawa, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Demir N. Kupeli, Roger T. Lewis, Walter F. Martens, John C. Mayer, Lee K. Mohler, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Yoshimi Saito, Arthur C. Segal, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, Ronson J. Warne

           

1989-91           Lex G. Oversteegen (Chairman), Richard J. Crittenden (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, I.E. Christer Bennewitz, James J. Buckley, C. Leslie Coghlan, Louis Dale (Associate Dean NS&M), Walter F. Martens, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yoe Itokawa, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Roman Kosecki, Roger T. Lewis, John C. Mayer, Lee K. Mohler, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Yoshimi Saito, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan

           

1991-93           Lex G. Oversteegen (Chairman), Walter F. Martens (Associate Chairman), Thomas L. Alexander, I.E. Christer Bennewitz, James J. Buckley, C. Leslie Coghlan, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale (Associate Dean NS&M), Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yoe Itokawa, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Roman Kosecki, Roger T. Lewis, John C. Mayer, Lee K. Mohler, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Yoshimi Saito, Heinz Siedentop, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard

           

1993-95           Lex G. Oversteegen (Chairman), Walter F. Martens (Associate Chairman), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Richard J. Crittenden, Louis Dale (Associate Dean NS&M), I.E. Christer Bennewitz, Rainer Hempel, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Roman Kosecki, Roger T. Lewis, John C. Mayer, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Yoshimi Saito, Alberto Setti, Douglas R. Stocks, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard, Gilbert Weinstein

           

1995-97           Lex G. Oversteegen (Chairman), Walter F. Martens (Associate Chairman), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Richard J. Crittenden (Deceased, June 1996), Louis Dale (Associate Dean NS&M), Jeanne S. Hutchison, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Roman Kosecki, Roger T. Lewis, John C. Mayer, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Dean NS&M), Yoshimi Saito, Douglas R. Stocks, Guenter Stolz, Shimata B.Tshinanga, Loy O. Vaughan, James R.Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard, Gilbert Weinstein, Henghui Zou

           

1997-98           Roger T. Lewis (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Walter F. Martens, Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate VP), Jeanne S. Hutchison, Robert M. Kauffman, Yulia Karpeshina, Ian W. Knowles, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Acting Provost), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Guenter Stolz, Serge Troubetzkoy, Shimata B. Tshinanga, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard, Gilbert Weinstein, Henghui Zou

           

1998-99           Roger T. Lewis (Chair), John Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate VP), Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Walter F. Martens, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Provost), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Guenter Stolz, Serge Troubetzkoy, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard, Gilbert Weinstein, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

 

2000-2001       Roger T. Lewis (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate VP), Marcel Griesemer, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Walter F. Martens, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O'Neil (Provost), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Guenter Stolz, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Jr., Rudi Weikard, Gilbert Weinstein, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

2001-2003      Rudi Weikard (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate VP), Marcel Griesemer, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Robert M. Kauffman, Ian W. Knowles, Roger T. Lewis (NSF Program Director), Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O’Neil (Provost), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Nandor Simanyi, Douglas R. Stocks (Associate Prof. Emeritus), Guenter Stolz, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Gilbert Weinstein, Sumio Yamada, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

2003-2004      Rudi Weikard (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate Provost), Marcel Griesemer, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Robert M. Kauffman (Deceased, February 2004), Ian W. Knowles, Roger T. Lewis, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O’Neil (Professor Emeritus), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Nandor Simanyi, Douglas R. Stocks (Associate Prof. Emeritus), Guenter Stolz, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Gilbert Weinstein, Sumio Yamada, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

2004-2005      Rudi Weikard (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate Provost), Marcel Griesemer, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Ian W. Knowles, Roger T. Lewis, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O’Neil (Professor Emeritus), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Nandor Simanyi, Douglas R. Stocks (Associate Prof. Emeritus), Guenter Stolz, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Gilbert Weinstein, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

2005-2006      Rudi Weikard (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Associate Provost), Marcel Griesemer, Christian Hainzl, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Yulia Karpeshina, Ian W. Knowles, Roger T. Lewis, Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O’Neil (Professor Emeritus), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Nandor Simanyi, Douglas R. Stocks (Associate Prof. Emeritus), Guenter Stolz, Loy O. Vaughan, James R. Ward, Gilbert Weinstein, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

2006-2007     Rudi Weikard (Chair), John C. Mayer (Associate Chair), Alexander Blokh, James J. Buckley, Nikolai Chernov, Louis Dale (Vice-President),  Christian Hainzl, Jeanne S. Hutchison, Ioulia Karpeshina, Ian W. Knowles, Roger T. Lewis (Professor Emeritus), Marius Nkashama, Peter V. O’Neil (Professor Emeritus), Lex G. Oversteegen, Yoshimi Saito, Nandor Simanyi, Guenter Stolz, Loy Vaughan, James R. Ward, Gilbert Weinstein, Yanni Zeng, Henghui Zou

 

 

 

 

Department of Mathematics
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
452 Campbell Hall
1300 University Boulevard
Birmingham AL 35294-1170

Questions? Ask the webmaster.
This page has been accessed

times since 5 February 1997.

Voice: (205) 934-2154 

FAX: (205) 934-9025