Mathematics Faculty Biographies
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Mathematics Faculty Biographies
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The Math Program |
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Anne CollinsDr. Collins was born in Chicago and lived in Pittsburgh and Columbus before her family finally settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. She graduated from Purcell-Marian High School in The ‘Natty in 1990, and from Bowling Green State University in 1994.A double math-physics major, (not yet Dr.) Collins first attended graduate school in Physics & Astronomy at Northwestern University. She spent three years in the basement of Dearborn Observatory -- the highlight of which was not so much the cockroaches large enough to throw a saddle on, but rather the tours of its 18.5’ refracting telescope which she ran every weekend when the weather was nice. Upon realizing that she was spending more time in the Math library than her own, she heeded the call of the integral and headed down south to the Mathematics department at Duke University. There (as if two fields weren't enough), Dr. Collins began dabbling in Computer Science and did her doctoral research under the guidance of two advisors, in Math and CS. After graduating in 2002, her research interests in computational geometry and robotics lead her out west to Stanford University, where she spent two postdoctoral years working with the Math and CS departments applying topological techniques to shape classification. The oldest of five, Dr. Collins has three brothers and a sister, who plan to be (when/if they grow up) a physicist/musician, a social worker, The Worlds Next Great Science Fiction Writer, and another social worker. Her father is an Endocrinologist and her mother is Saving the World. Her son Sean (born in California in 2003) isn't quite ready to commit to any one vocation just yet, but can say with certainty that he loves avocados, grits, Shrek, Nemo, and his dog Shadow. Dr. Collins joined the faculty at Centre College in 2004, and is pleased to have finally returned to her own neck of the woods. She enjoys reading, puzzles of all sorts, pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. To the best of her knowledge, she has never directed an exercise video.
Jeffrey HeathJeff grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, a nice town that is perhaps best known for quilts. Growing up with his older sister, Jeff spent an inordinate amount of time playing in the neighborhood creeks with his friends. A sports enthusiast, Jeff played basketball, baseball, and golf throughout his youth and into his years at Lone Oak High School. He developed a fondness of numbers at an early age. He especially enjoyed doing long division in his head!Jeff attended Georgetown College (KY) where he majored in mathematics. At Georgetown he met his college sweetheart Shanna, whom he married two years after graduation. It was during a summer research experience at the Colorado School of Mines after his junior year when Jeff realized that he would like to pursue graduate work in applied math. Upon graduation, Jeff attended the University of Maryland for graduate work in the Applied Mathematics program, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, specializing in global optimization of mixture models. Jeff joined the faculty at Centre College in August 2007 as a visiting assistant professor of mathematics. Aside from his work at Centre, Jeff also enjoys golf and tennis, playing recreational softball and basketball, fishing, hiking, and most any other outdoor activity. His faith is very important to him as well. He and Shanna are anxiously awaiting their first child, due in January 2008.
Alex McAllisterAlex mostly grew up in a three-stop sign town in eastern West Virginia, wandering the grounds of a local fish hatchery and playing in nearby corn fields - great fun for him and his brother when they were little! Alex attended a small Catholic high school in western Maryland and fell in love with soccer, running, his faith, and mathematics. Along with earning his Eagle Scout award, he enjoyed orienteering (map and compass cross-country racing) and was actually nationally ranked for a brief time.Alex went to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he found his true academic passion, majoring in mathematics in 1992. This love of mathematics has lead Alex around the eastern half of the U.S.: to graduate school at the University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!), where he conducted research in computability theory; to a couple year post-doctoral position at Dartmouth College; and finally to the faculty of Centre College in 1999, where he continues to enjoy teaching mathematics and thinking about mathematical logic. During his sophomore year at Virginia Tech, Alex met his future wife Julie Eberhardt. Julie has earned a bachelors degree in engineering and a masters degree in theology. They have three children: Benjamin, Daniel, and Ella (who just joined the family in late 2004). Last summer the boys joined the local swim team, built vehicles and weapons out of Legos, and played with our two puppies, B.J. and Bridget. Ella is learning to talk and walk successfully and enjoys scattering her toys around the living room. Some of Alex's hobbies include biking, running, playing guiter, yardwork, coaching soccer, watching movies, and playing with his wife and kids. He also enjoys playing pick-up and intramural soccer games with Centre students on Sunday afternoons.
Art MooreArt Moore was raised in South Florida but his many family ties and those of his wife brought him back to his birth state of Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Florida and holds a master's degree from the same institution. He has served in a number of roles at Centre since joining the college in 1982 as assistant professor of mathematics. In his first two years he led an inter-disciplinary team of faculty who initiated a program of study in computer science in the spring of 1984. He then served as chair of the Computer Science Program from 1984 to 1991.In 1991, Moore was named director of computer services. Over the next three years, he oversaw the implementation of the college's first integrated administrative database. During the implementation of this project, Moore also supervised the expansion of the college's fledgling network, from the installation of an inter-building, fiber-optic backbone with a full-scale connection to the Internet. The expansion also included extension of the network into every permanent residence hall room on campus. As a member of the faculty, Moore continues to remain active in the classroom, occasionally teaching a computer science or math course. He also serves as academic advisor to students. He has supervised a number of student internships in the computer science discipline. For the past three years he has been the faculty advisor of the Centre Catholic Community. During academic year 2006-2007 he is on leave from his duties as Director, Information Technology Services and will teach mathematics full time. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Moore spends much of his leisure time with wife Lucy working in the yard, bicycling, camping, or in some kind of white-water activity. Two children, Todd and Lara, are now married and have their own families including the first and only grandchild Noah (Lara is mother). A recent family reunion brought Art and his siblings together in the same location at the same time for the first time in 28 years. Moore is an active member of several professional organizations including the Association of Computing Machinery and the Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is also involved with his local church serving on two committees and engaged as a volunteer groundskeeper.
Sarah MurrayAs a small child, Sarah Murray lived in Michigan, Texas and Virginia. She and her husband, Shawn, both attended the same high school in Virginia and then again later in Winchester, Kentucky. (That is a whole story in itself!) Even with a lack of athletic ability, Sarah has always enjoyed running, hiking, volleyball, swimming, skiing, and soccer.Sarah followed her high school sweetheart to Western Kentucky University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Mathematics Education. Then while teaching at Mercer County High School, Sarah also completed her Masters degree in Mathematics Education. At the same time Sarah and her husband purchased a 152 acre farm in Washington County. After teaching several classes for Eastern Kentucky University, Sarah decided to pursue her doctorate degree in the department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Kentucky. While working part-time on her doctorate, Sarah worked as a Math Resource Coordinator in Washington County. Sarah joined the Centre faculty in 2006 and successfully defended her dissertation spring 2007. Yeah!! Academically, Sarah enjoys examining Mathematics Education at all levels. Her research interests include studying professional development models such as coaching. Along with their two children, Shannon (age 11) and Wesley (age 10), Sarah and her husband currently raise beef cattle. Sarah spends much of her leisure time with her family at soccer games/tournaments, swim meets, athletic practices, and just hanging out at Centre or working on the farm. Their family motto is “Work hard, play hard!”
Christine ShannonChristine Shannon grew up in Michigan where she attended Marygrove College with the intention of becoming a high school mathematics teacher. It was her English professor who suggested that she think about graduate school and teaching at the college level. When she began her graduate studies two years later at Purdue University it was with the intention of studying numerical analysis. However, at Purdue to become an applied mathematician one first had to become a mathematician and so the first year’s courses were very theoretical often covering material which had not seemed particularly appealing during her undergraduate days. Surprisingly, this time it was very interesting and she went on to write her dissertation in an area which combined function theory with topological vector lattices. Her secondary concentration was in applied mathematics.About ten years later, while a visiting professor at the University of Kentucky, she decided to take some courses in computer science. Her undergraduate interests were suddenly rekindled and she went on to complete a Master’s degree. A few years later while a Dana Fellow at Cornell University she completed an additional eighteen hours of courses in computer science and applied mathematics. She views computer science as a splendid opportunity to apply mathematics and the interplay between the two fields has often been the topic of her research projects. Her current interests include the design of algorithms and robotics – both of which are very mathematical.
André WehnerAndré grew up in Berlin, Germany, a remarkable city with a remarkable past. A rather memorable experience from those days was the day the Berlin Wall came down. He was an undergraduate majoring in physics at Humboldt University at the time. A few years later, he went farther west, to Idaho and Utah, mainly for graduate school. There he became fascinated by the close relationship between geometry and physics, as manifested in general relativity, gauge theories, quantum field theories, and many other places. He firmly believes that one day we will be able to explain all natural phenomena in terms of only a few fundamental formulas and principles, not the least of which is (local) conformal symmetry. Ask him about it, and he will gladly tell you more.André came to Kentucky and Centre College in 2001, where he has been enjoying the unique opportunity to teach a wide variety of math and physics classes, from introductory astronomy to real and complex analysis. Besides math and physics, André is very much interested in history and geography. His favorite pastime is traveling all over Europe and the U.S. He also enjoys hiking and biking.
John WilsonJohn grew up with a brother and two sisters on a small farm in the southwestern tip of North Carolina. The county was quite rural with no fast food restaurants and no intersections with sufficient traffic to merit a red-yellow-green traffic light. He says he began teaching math when he was in the eighth grade. He always enjoyed putting problems on the board and explaining them to fellow students. Throughout four years at the University of the South he was an honor student who also enjoyed playing intramural sports, throwing the Frisbee, playing ping pong and darts.After a four year courtship, he married his high school sweetheart Brenda and moved to Chapel Hill to continue his studies. In January of 1985 he began his career at Centre and Brenda began working as a pharmacist. Five years later their son Ben was born, followed by daughter Anne in 1993. John says one of the great pleasures of being at Centre is the opportunity to teach a wide variety of courses. His favorites are the introductory calculus courses and the upper level abstract algebra courses. For many years he has been the advisor for the student math association at Centre. He thoroughly enjoy the extracurricular math activities sponsored by the club including the a nnual math versus chemistry croquet competition. Over the years he has worked with many students on independent studies and research projects on topics ranging from aperiodic tilings of the plane to dynamical systems to designing solar collectors.
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