John H. Duncan Chair and Professor of Mathematics Fumiko Futamura was invited to give two talks at Indiana University Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI). She was the keynote speaker at the award ceremony for the IU Indianapolis High School Math Contest, and also gave a talk at the mathematics department colloquium. Both talks were on her research using mathematical perspective and projective geometry to analyze art.

—May 2025

Three faculty and eight students participated in the 2025 meeting of the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America, which took place March 28–29 at Prairie View A&M University. Garey Chair and Professor of Mathematics Alison Marr served on the Executive Committee as the section’s chair-elect. Associate Professor of Mathematics John Ross also served on the Executive Committee, in the role of Digital Media Editor. Ross also serves as a co-leader of Section NExT, a professional development program for early-career mathematicians. As part of his work for NExT, he led “Inquiry without Overhaul,” a session on introducing inquiry-based learning into mathematics classes in easy-to-digest pieces. Three students presented. Clay Elliott ’26 presented “Linear Algebra Behind Satisfactory,” which featured work done in his Linear Algebra class with Lord Chair and Professor of Mathematics Fumiko Futamura. Georgia Micknal ’25 and Avery Weatherly ’25 presented “Antimagic Polydominoes,” which featured research done with Marr. Assistant Professor of Instruction of Mathematics Will Tran also attended, as did students Caytie Brown ’27, Ashlyn Cadena ’27, Camille James ’26, Robert Karcher ’27, and Dash Puentes ’27. All eight students competed in the Math Bowl as part of two different teams on Friday. Both teams finished in the top half of all teams competing.

—April 2025

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science had a good showing at the Texas Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (TUMC) at the University of Texas at Tyler on November 9. Six mathematics majors presented preliminary work on their mathematics capstone projects under the supervision of Associate Professor of Mathematics Therese Shelton. Yasmine Soto ’25 presented “Spinning Stories: A Mathematical Model of Rumor Dynamics.” Christopher Garza ’25 and Leo Schoch-Spana ’25 presented “Developing Models for Lung Cancer in the United States.” Assistant Professor of Instruction in Statistics Jean Remy Habimana is a statistics consultant on the project and Professor of Mathematics Fumiko Futamura is a consultant on the software implementation. Isabella Robinson ’25 presented “Modeling Monarch Butterfly Populations.” Cole Thomson ’25 presented “Analysis of Music retention and popularity on Billboard’s 100.” Jadyn Rhodes-Cruse ’25 presented “Comparing Maternal Mortality.” Shelton and Associate Professor of Mathematics John Ross attended and helped the group of students. Ross also co-led sessions in the Mathematical Association of America’s (MAA) Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) program, providing support for faculty in their first few years of teaching. Biochemistry major Daisy Orozco ’27 also attended.

—November 2024

Garey Chair and Professor of Mathematics Alison Marr and Duncan Chair and Professor of Mathematics Fumiko Futamura presented at the 2024 Fall Central Sectional Meeting of the American Mathematical Society in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Marr presented her talk, “Domino Antimagic Configurations,” in the Special Session on Enumerative Combinatorics, and Dr. Futamura presented her talk/workshop, “Drawing in Geometry Students with Drawing Puzzles,” in the Special Session on Inquiry Oriented Learning in the Mathematics Classroom.

—October 2024

Professor of Mathematics and John H. Duncan Chair Fumiko Futamura signed a book contract with Princeton University Press for a general audience book tentatively titled Projecting Spaces. The book is primarily about 2D art and how artists set the stage for their visual stories by playing with oblique and linear perspectives (this is where she sneaks in a little mathematical analysis), enhanced and impossible realities (more math), flatness and depth (math), and movement and still snapshots (physics?). The artwork explored in the book ranges from Renaissance paintings to 3D billboards and Radiohead t-shirts, and artists range from Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer to Hokusai and Njideka Akunyili Crosby. The book will likely come out in 2027.

—August 2024