Notable Achievements

Three faculty and two students joined over 5,000 mathematicians at the largest math gathering in the world, the Joint Mathematics Meetings, in Washington, D.C. from January 4–7. Those attending participated in events sponsored by the American Mathematical Society (AMS), Pi Mu Epsilon (PME), and the Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America (SIGMAA). Professor of Mathematics Alison Marr co-presented “Difference Distance Magic Digraphs” in the AMS special session on research results by mathematicians from the EDGE Program. She also participated in multiple events in her capacity as co-Director of EDGE. Marr stayed an extra day in D.C. to participate in #MathSciOnTheHill Day, joining over 250 mathematicians advocating for mathematics funding on Capitol Hill, where she was joined by SU alumna Daniela Beckelhymer ’20. Associate Professor of Mathematics John Ross presented “Optimizing Under Constraints: Developing a Compact Undergraduate Research Program” in the SIGMAA special session on showcasing undergraduate research experiences. Associate Professor of Mathematics Therese Shelton organized and co-chaired an AMS special session sponsored by SIMIODE on “Creating, Doing, and Sharing Modeling Approaches to Teaching Differential Equations.” Ioana Burlacu ’26 and Ashlyn Cadena ’27 presented “Perimeter-minimizing rectangles using density M|x|^p + N|y|^q” in the AMS-PME Undergraduate Poster Session. This research was supervised by Ross as part of SURF 2025.

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Expertise

Differential Geometry, Riemannian Geometry, Geometric Analysis. Minimal surfaces, Mean Curvature Flow. The mathematics of bubbles and similar surfaces.

John Ross received his PhD in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 2015 and his BA in Mathematics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2009.

  • John Ross received his PhD in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 2015 and his BA in Mathematics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2009.

  • Dr. Ross’ research focuses on theory and applications of minimal surfaces and mean curvature flow. Taken together, these subjects describe how surfaces (or higher-dimensional manifolds) can evolve in time to achieve stable structures under certain constraints. The most accessible example is the creating of bubbles via soap film - a two-dimensional elastic surface that aims to minimize surface area subject to some additional structural constraint (eg. constant volume enclosure in the case of a free-floating bubble, or fixed boundary in the case of a bubble wand). The geometry of the surface with minimal surface area - or the evolution a soap film undergoes as it evolves to shrink surface area - is of broad interest to mathematicians, materials scientists, and physicists. Dr. Ross studies the differential equations that govern this process, and the connection between these equations and the underlying geometry of the surfaces.


In the News

  • Senior Sarah Doroshow ’25 Awarded Prestigious Gilman Scholarship to Attend SU London Program this Fall

    Psychology major Sarah Doroshow becomes the third Southwestern University student to earn the nationally competitive Gilman Scholarship in 2025.