• March 8, 2021
    CMU Mathematics Faculty Member Nominated for Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award

    Katrina Piatek-JimenezCMU mathematics faulty member, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, was recently nominated for “The Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award” which is presented annually by the Michigan ACE Network, the highest honor the MI-ACE Network presents. 

    The Michigan American Council on Education Women’s Network (MI-ACE) is a professional network for Michigan women in higher education. This award honors Michigan women who have distinguished themselves by providing outstanding leadership to women in their institutions, in their profession, and in society at large. The award recognizes groundbreaking work on behalf of women that is outside the scope of the nominee’s formal faculty or staff responsibilities.

    As a scholar in mathematics education, Katrina has been conducting research on women in mathematics for close to 20 years. Through this work, she has investigated what motivates women to study mathematics at the undergraduate level and what influences their decisions whether or not to continue in the field of mathematics beyond their undergraduate degrees. She also explores the stereotypes of mathematicians and scientists, and how these stereotypes conflict with societal expectations of women.

    She is also the lead author and a Co-PI on the multi-year NSF ADVANCE grant recently awarded to CMU. The NSF ADVANCE program contributes to the National Science Foundation’s goal of developing a more inclusive and diverse STEM workforce, by providing universities with financial resources to improve the overall climate and culture for women faculty in STEM at their institution.

    Mentoring is also something that Katrina Piatek-Jimenez incorporates into her work. Although much of her mentoring is informal, more recently she created a 100-level course titled “Women in STEM fields.” The majority of students who have taken this course are first year STEM majors at CMU. In this course the students learn about both the struggles that women in STEM often face and the accomplishments of many amazing contemporary women in the STEM disciplines. Students who have taken this course have expressed that not only have they learned a lot about women in STEM, but that it is also helpful to realize that they are not alone in their experiences.

    This past year, Katrina co-published an article titled “College Students’ Images of Mathematicians and Mathematical Careers” in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics with two former undergraduate students from CMU. Now practicing teachers, Miranda Nouhan and Michaela Williams conducted this research with Piatek-Jimenez as part of their undergraduate honors project. A copy of this manuscript can be accessed at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1647&context=jhm

    Katrina continues to participate in leadership roles both at CMU and in the larger academic community. For the third year in a row, she is co-leading a Working Group on Gender and Sexuality in Mathematics Education at the annual meeting of the Psychology of Mathematics Education – North American Chapter. Furthermore, she is currently serving as the Chair of the Academic Senate at CMU.

    Congratulations Dr. Piatek-Jimenez on your nomination, definitely a well-deserved honor.
  • February 24, 2021
    CMU Mathematics Students Fire Up Annual Competition
    Chase Bender in front of chalkboard filled with math equationsEach November, collegiate teams from around the state compete in the Michigan Autumn Take Home (MATH) challenge.

    The challenge is a team-orientated math competition where teams of two to three students complete a three-hour exam consisting of ten thought-provoking math problems dealing with topics and concepts found in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum.

    This past year, two teams from CMU placed in the top 50. Team one consisting of Austin Konkel and Chase Bender finished 4th, while the team of Emily Naegelin and Robert Mason placed 22nd.

    Congratulations to our students and their faculty
  • November 30, 2020
    11th Mathematics Scholarship Now Available Thanks To Longtime Faculty Member
    Faculty member, Sivaram Narayan, has established a new mathematics scholarship aimed at helping those majoring in mathematics.Narayan Sivaram

    Sivaram Narayan:
    • Joined CMU in 1988 after receiving his Ph.D. from Purdue University
    • Published multiple research articles on Operator Theory and Matrix Theory
    • Supervised the Ph.D. dissertations of 12 doctoral students
    • Supervised the research of over 75 undergraduate students
    • Secured National Science Foundation research funding
    • Directed two undergraduate research programs
    • Received several awards for outstanding contributions to CMU

    With the addition of the newly created Narayan Mathematics Scholarship, there are now eleven scholarships available to mathematics students at Central Michigan University.
  • October 9, 2020
    CMU Math Major Chosen to Present at National Conference
    Chase Bender in front of chalkboard CMU mathematics major, Chase Bender, was chosen to present his research at this year’s Young Mathematicians Conference at The Ohio State University.

    Bender’s research, Lp Regularity of the Bergman Projection on Quotient Domains, was co-supervised by CMU mathematics faculty Debraj Chakrabarti and Meera Mainkar, and supported by CMU’s Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program.

    Bender is currently pursuing an accelerated master of arts degree in mathematics
  • July 7, 2020
    CMU Math Professor Awarded Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant
    Debraj Chakrabarti in front of chalkboard    Debraj Chakrabarti, a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at CMU, has been awarded a 5-year Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant for his project entitled "Analysis and Geometry in Several Complex Variables''.

    “I am very happy to receive this funding, it will help me to advance my research program and foster collaboration with colleagues,” said Chakrabarti.

    The grant will enable him to collaborate with other researchers on projects related to the Cauchy-Riemann equations in several variables and Bergman theory.

    The research being done is in the area of complex analysis. This is a form of calculus, except that the numbers used are not the ordinary ’real’ numbers, but the ’complex’ numbers, which include imaginary numbers such as the square root of negative 1.

    “Apart from the theoretical importance of such results within mathematics, complex analysis is closely related to many applications, such as fluid flow, heat conduction, electrical circuits, etc.,” added Chakrabarti. “It also is related to many topics in mathematics, such as prime numbers and geometry of higher dimensions.”

    This is the second time Dr. Chakrabarti has received the same Simons Collaboration grant, the first time being in 2014.

    More information on the Simons Foundation Collaboration Grants for Mathematics can be found by clicking here
  • June 18, 2020
    Three CMU mathematics majors get published
    Austin Konkel, Evan Miller, and Savannah Swiatlowski, all three CMU mathematics majors, recently published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

    “These students joined faculty in their active research programs in pure mathematics, obtained important results in collaboration with the faculty resulting in publications in research level journals,” said Meera Mainkar, Associate Professor of Mathematics at CMU.

    Austin KonkelAustin Konkel and Evan MillerEvan Miller studied the Bergman kernel of certain domains inC^n, called elementary Reinhardt domains, generalizing the classical Hartogs triangle. For some elementary Reinhardt domains, they explicitly computed the kernel, which is a rational function of the coordinates. For some other such domains, they showed that the kernel is not a rational function. For a general elementary Reinhardt domain, they obtained a representation of the kernel as an infinite series. This work is published in Pacific Journal of Mathematics. It is a collaboration with CMU faculty members Debraj Chakrabarti and Meera Mainkar and is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of Dr. Chakrabarti.

    Savannah SwiatlowskiSavannah Swiatlowski considered a family of 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras associated to uniform complete graphs on odd number of vertices. She proved that the symmetry group of such a graph is the holomorph of the additive cyclic group Z_n. Moreover, she proved that the (Lie) automorphism group of the corresponding nilpotent Lie algebra contains the dihedral group of order 2n as a subgroup. This work is published in Communications in Algebra. It is a collaboration with CMU faculty members Debraj Chakrabarti and Meera Mainkar and is also supported by a NSF grant of Dr. Chakrabarti.

    “It is rare for CMU math majors to participate in such research projects and get published in well regarded journals in pure mathematics,” said Mainkar.

    “These three undergraduate students brought a lot of energy, enthusiasm and interest into the projects. We had to cover a lot of ground in the two months of the summer project. However it was greatly rewarding experience for both the faculty and the students!"
  • June 1, 2020
    Mathematics Ph.D. grad nabs assistant professor spot in Louisiana
    Christal Schoen“Though I am beyond excited to begin my new position at Centenary College of Louisiana, I will miss my colleagues, professors, and students from Central Michigan University,” said Christal Schoen, a 2020 CMU Mathematics Ph.D. graduate.

    Schoen is packing her bags, and heading to Louisiana to start her career in mathematics higher education.

    Despite the COVID19 quarantine, Schoen’s experience at CMU earned her a tenure track position within the mathematics department at Centenary College of Louisiana. “The hiring process was not quite what I expected,” said Schoen. “Since I couldn't actually visit the college because of COVID-19, my initial interview, follow-up interviews, teaching demonstration, and research talks all took place virtually.”

    “Centenary seemed particularly excited about my experience using active learning as a means of content delivery, my knowledge of technology in the mathematics classroom, and the fact that I have participated in two teaching internships with award-winning tenured faculty members,” she added.

    Ph.D. students in the Mathematics Department at CMU are required to complete two teaching internships prior to graduation.

    “We meet with our professor to discuss lesson plans, then they observe every class that we teach and provide constructive feedback to help us improve our craft,” said Schoen.

    “The majority of Universities do not provide their Ph.D. students with such opportunities. Also, I was able to teach in an active learning classroom and use advanced teaching technology such as the TI Nspire CX Navigator System as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at CMU,” added Schoen.

    “There is no doubt in my mind that this practice made me a better teacher.”

    “The support that I received from Math Department faculty members helped me grow in mathematics and as an educator, and the experiences I had interacting with CMU students inspired me to become the best version of myself,” said Schoen. “Our students are wonderful. I will cherish my memories in Pearce Hall for the rest of my life.”
  • May 12, 2020
    The Department of Mathematics at CMU is honored to share some good news and announce this year's Awards and Scholarships

    Richtmeyer–Foust Award The Richtmeyer-Foust Award was inaugurated in 1968 by the Mathematics Department to honor Dr. Cleon C. Richtmeyer and Dr. Judson W. Foust. Dr. Richtmeyer served as Department Chair and as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Foust also served as a Mathematics Professor and later as the University President. This award is given to outstanding seniors with either a major or minor in mathematics. After an initial screening, the department chooses a group of finalists who are then asked to describe their academic and extracurricular accomplishments and to write an essay discussing how their experiences at CMU have influenced them. A final vote by the faculty determines the recipients. The recipient receives a plaque and his/her name is engraved on a trophy which is kept in a showcase on the second floor of Pearce Hall. This year’s recipient is the 63rd student to receive this award.
    Recipients:Savannah Swiatlowski Finalists: Paul Cappaert, Natalie DeVos, Lily Ireton, Kyle Mankel, Bridget Parker

    Edward H. Whitmore Award The Edward H. Whitmore Award in Elementary Mathematics was established in 1990 by the Mathematics Department in honor of Dr. Edward H. Whitmore. Dr. Edward H. Whitmore served the department for twenty-two years as Professor of Mathematics, fifteen of which were also spent as Department Chair. The unique differences in the program for elementary teachers make it appropriate for those students to be eligible for a unique award specifically for them. The winner, who is chosen in a manner similar to the Richtmeyer–Foust Award, receives a plaque and his/her name is engraved on a trophy which is kept in the showcase on the second floor of Pearce Hall. This year’s recipients are the 38th and 39th students to receive this award.
    Recipients:Hanna Angst, Rachel Pung Finalist: Grace Staley

    Arnold Hammel Kappa Mu Epsilon Award This award was created in honor of Arnie Hammel, retired Mathematics Professor, and advisor to the mathematics honor society, Kappa Mu Epsilon (KME). This award was created for students who are math majors and are active members of KME.
    Recipients: Austin Konkel, Emily Naegelin, Savannah Swiatlowski

    Outstanding MAC Tutor Award
    Graduate student level Recipients:Jackson Criswell, David Varner Honorable Mention: Anirban Dawn
    Undergraduate student level Recipients:Austin Konkel, Savannah Swiatlowski Honorable Mention: Bridget Parker

    Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
    Doctoral level Recipients:Wilson Gyasi, Gabrielle Mynatt
    Master’s level Recipient:George El-Amir

    Scholarships

    Brannan Family Scholarship The Brannan Family Scholarship was established in 2010 in honor of Samuel J. Brannan. Mr. Brannan earned his Bachelor of Science in 1959 and his Master of Arts in 1962 from Central Michigan University. He was an instructor in the CMU Mathematics Department for 38 years. Mr. Brannan was a member of Kappa Mu Epsilon and ROTC. Recipients: Katelynn Fletcher, Jasmyn Johnston, Madeline Oles Jennie Master Endowed Scholarship in Mathematics Education The Jennie Master Endowed Scholarship in Mathematics Education was established in 2016 by the estate of Jennie E. Master. Ms. Master received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Central Michigan University and was valedictorian of her 1943 class. She was a member of Kappa Mu Epsilon and Kappa Delta Pi and earned her Secondary Teaching Certificate in 1952.
    Recipients:Kelsey Hubbard, Elizabeth O’Brien

    Nikoline A. Bye Endowed Award This endowed award was established in 2012 from the estate of Nikoline A. Bye, who graduated from Midland High School, received her undergraduate degree from CMU in 1932 and her M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1941. She was an associate professor in the CMU Department of Mathematics for 32 years, from 1942 until she retired in 1974.
    Recipients:Chloe E. Gall, Jacqueline Pattison

    Dr. Frederick C. and Lois M. Kabbe Scholarship Established in 2012 by Robert '78 and Connie Kabbe '97 and Jon and Alice Kabbe in memory of their parents, Dr. Frederick C. and Lois M. Kabbe, '61. Dr. Kabbe was an associate professor in CMU's Department of Chemistry and Mrs. Kabbe was a retired high school mathematics teacher.
    Recipients: Emilee Disbrow, Christina Millikin, Joseph Ottenbacher

    William and Delores Miller Endowed Award In honor of Professor William Miller and his wife, Delores Miller, this award was established in 2005. Professor Miller was a Department of Mathematics faculty member from 1968-2000. He is a Michigan native who specialized in mathematics education and has a keen interest in problem solving.
    Recipient: Jacob Hart

    Cleon C. Richtmeyer Scholarship Fund Dr. Cleon C. Richtmeyer, former dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, former chair of the Department of Mathematics and a faculty member of CMU from 1924-1968, bequeathed a scholarship fund for students who major in mathematics. The fund will be used to award scholarships to students who are eligible in either one of the two categories, underclass or upper-class.
    Recipients: Austin Konkel, Grace Horalek, Brook Mathewson, Emily Naegelin, Courtney Rezmer, Terry Stearns, Jaclyn Swiderek

    Frank and Rita Jozefaciuk and Aunt Irene Rutkowski Endowed Award As a tribute to Frank and Rita Jozefaciuk, and Irene Rutkowski, their family created the Frank and Rita Jozefaciuk and Aunt Irene Rutkowski Endowed Award in 2005.
    Recipient:Grace Horalek

    Lester H. and Jack D. Serier Endowed Memorial Scholarship In honor of Professor Lester H. Serier and his son, Jack D. Serier, the Lester H. and Jack D. Serier Endowed Memorial Scholarship fund was established in 2001. Professor Serier was a Department of Mathematics faculty member from 1939-1980. He served as department chairperson from 1958-1959 and again from 1961-1965.
    Recipients:Christina Frey, Karen Ramirez

    Richard and Karen St. Andre Endowed Award The Richard and Karen St. Andre Endowed Award was established in 2004. Dr. Richard St. Andre was a Department of Mathematics faculty member from 1971 until his retirement in 2008. During that time, he spent several years in the Dean's Office as Assistant to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Associate Dean for the College of Science and Technology, and Interim Dean for the College of Science and Technology. Professor St. Andre is a Michigan native with a specialty in mathematics education. Karen St. Andre was a local realtor for many years.
    Recipient:Cielo Medina Medina

    Edward, Bertha & Stephen Whitmore Mathematics Scholarship Established by family and friends to commemorate the lives of Edward Hugh Whitmore, Bertha Harper Whitmore and Stephen Harper Whitmore for senior students who have earned a 3.6 or higher in their mathematics major. Dr. Edward Whitmore was a mathematics professor between 1965 and his retirement from CMU in December 1987. He served as department chairman from 1965 to 1974 and from 1976 to 1982. Mrs. Bertha Whitmore was a science teacher for Mt. Pleasant Public Schools between 1966 and her retirement in 1987. Stephen Whitmore, son of Edward and Bertha, was a partner with the New York law firm of Berlack, Israels, and Liberman. He specialized in the areas of corporate finance and securities law.
    Recipients:Bailey Birman, Haley Klay, Abigail Striebel, Dana Thome

    Achievements

    AMS Graduate Student Chapter Integration Bee An event organized by the AMS Graduate Student Chapter for undergraduate and graduate students to solve integration problems in a friendly competition for the title of “Grand Integrator.”
    Undergraduate student Grand Integrator:Austin Konkel
    Undergraduate student second place: Shashwat Maharjan
    Graduate student Grand Integrator: Mohyedden Sweidan
    Graduate student second place:Arkabrata Ghosh

    Math Challenge Teams of two or three students took a three-hour exam consisting of 10 interesting problems dealing with topics and concepts found in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. It was open to all CMU undergraduate students, and the challenge took place on Saturday, November 2, 2019.
    Team 1:Austin Konkel, Chase Charles Bender (4th place with 34 points)
    Team 2: Emily Naegelin, Natalie DeVos (36th place with 9 points)
    Team 3:Shashwat Maharjan, Robert Mason, Ankrit Gupta (23rd place with 12 points)

    William Lowell Putnam Exam The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is the preeminent mathematics competition for undergraduate college students in the United States and Canada. The Putnam Competition takes place annually on the first Saturday of December. The competition consists of two 3-hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. During each session, participants work individually on 6 challenging mathematical problems. Central Michigan University placed 145 out of 488 teams competing in the 2019 Putnam Exam Competition, which took place on December 7, 2019.
    Participants:Chase Bender, Paul Cappaert, Evan Miller, & Austin Konkel 

    Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishments
    Awardee: Savannah Swiatlowski

    College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Scholar Award for Undergraduate Research Awardees:Paul Cappaert, Austin Konkel, Evan Miller

    Barry Goldwater Scholarship The Barry Goldwater Scholarship was established in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served our country as a statesman and soldier. Goldwater Scholarships are provided to college sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in mathematics, engineering, and the natural sciences.
    Awardee:Austin Konkel
  • April 30, 2020
    CMU faculty focusing on student needs while teaching from home
    Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs Known to friends as the KeeloWatts family, Drs. Jordan Watts and Jason Keeler have both made their students’ needs their top priority while teaching from home. They are both teaching with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in mind.

    Applied to their courses, Maslow’s Hierarchy means that a student’s access to food, shelter, friendship, and sense of self-esteem are all necessary before they can succeed at mathematics or grow as a future meteorologist. Through a discussion of Maslow’s Hierarchy at the start of all of Dr. Keeler’s courses, or by sharing information on it through Dr. Watts’ website, their students are made aware of all the resources available at CMU to help them if they are having difficulty with any of these needs. The current semester and the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the importance of applying Maslow’s Hierarchy to higher education. With finals week around the corner, Drs. Watts and Keeler reflect on the shift to online teaching and how they’ve been able to best serve their students during this challenging time.

    Jordan Watts in his home officeThis semester Dr. Watts is teaching the mathematics capstone course and a graduate course, and both of Dr. Keeler’s courses are required for the meteorology major. Their focus has been ensuring their students learn the material that they will either use in subsequent courses or in their careers. They share a tablet to record annotated videos of course content for all of their courses. Dr. Watts takes advantage of his home office’s chalkboard for videos, and Jason Keeler in his home officeDr. Keeler uses his usual format of notes: slides that students get to fill in during class. He’s made an addition this semester, “I’ve also uploaded the annotated slides to Blackboard so that students with limited internet don’t have to watch the full lectures to get all of the content.” Both professors have kept planned assignments including homework and projects, but Dr. Watts sums up their shared policy on extensions for this semester as “any student needing an extension gets it without question.” With Dr. Keeler adding “we’re all affected by this in one way or another, and we don’t want that to affect our students’ learning experience or grade.”

    The hours spent adapting their courses to online format and stress of having several family members infected with COVID-19 have led Drs. Keeler and Watts to practice what they preach in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy. Dr. Keeler is an avid gardener and this time of the year his office is a makeshift greenhouse, “so students might have noticed trays of tomato and pepper seedlings in the background during some of our meetings.” Dr. Watts has been reading (both math and non-math) as a way to escape and unwind after a day of recording videos and Webex committee meetings.

    What’s their advice for students going into the summer? “Make time for hobbies and practice self-care. We look forward to seeing you in our classes this fall!”
  • March 31, 2020
    CMU mathematics student awarded prestigious national scholarship
    Austin Konkel “This scholarship means a lot to me, even more than the additional funding it provides towards my tuition,” said Austin Konkel, a mathematics major and computer science minor at CMU.

    Konkel was recently named as one of the recipients of the prestigious 2020 Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

    “The application process allowed me to reflect on my accomplishments, and receiving it has boosted my confidence in my ability to succeed as a mathematician,” said Konkel.

    “The Goldwater Scholarship is a very prestigious scholarship, so it will garner more attention in my graduate school applications.”

    The Barry Goldwater Scholarship was established in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served our country as a statesman and soldier. Goldwater Scholarships are provided to college sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in mathematics, engineering, and the natural sciences.

    The process of receiving the Goldwater Scholarship “began my Freshman year when I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I knew I liked math, so I decided to go to my professor’s office hours and ask them what they do; namely, about their research. I did not understand much of anything as it was too complex for me at the time, but it sounded like something I wanted to do,” said Konkel.

    “Talking with professors not only helped me figure out what I wanted to do, but it had the added benefit of making connections with professors. These connections enabled me to get a research project during the summer of 2019 in the field of complex analysis of several variables. For this project, I worked with mentors Dr. Debraj Chakrabarti and Dr. Meera Mainkar, as well as another student, Evan Miller.”

    Konkel, Miller, and his faculty mentors wrote a paper on their research titled, “Bergman Kernels of Elementary Reinhardt Domains” that will be published in the Pacific Journal of Mathematics.

    The group also presented their work at the Summer Undergraduate Michigan Mathematics Research Conference, in Dearborn, Michigan and at the Young Mathematicians Conference in Columbus, Ohio.

    “This project and my great mentors were instrumental in me receiving the Goldwater Scholarship,” said Konkel.

    “Moreover, this scholarship allows me to connect with a community of other Goldwater scholars, which will be great to have once I begin my professional career.

    Upon graduating, Konkel, a junior at CMU, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and work as a professor at a research university.
  • March 27, 2020
    CMU Math students nab awards
    Integration Bee WinnersA handful of CMU mathematics students recently took home awards for their outstanding work at the university.

    Savannah Swiatlowski, was awarded the Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishments for her work with Meera Mainkar and Debraj Chakrabarti.

    Evan Miller, Austin Konkel, and Paul Cappaert were awarded the Dean’s undergraduate research award.

    Congratulations to all, a job well done!
  • March 17, 2020
    CMU Math Faculty Member brings home Mathematical Association of America Award
    Integration Bee Winners“I am very honored to receive this award,” said Doug Lapp, a faculty member in the department of mathematics at Central Michigan University. Lapp has been selected to receive the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics in 2020.

    “I enjoy teaching and want to make mathematics fun for all of my students showing how math is relevant in our everyday lives,” said Lapp.

    “It is particularly gratifying to join the ranks of many other CMU faculty who have received this award over the years. When you are in the company of people like Sid Graham, Lisa DeMeyer, Christine Phelps-Gregory, and Carl Lee, it is a great feeling. These are wonderful teachers and I admire them greatly.”

    Congratulations Dr. Lapp! A well deserved honor for sure.
  • November 7, 2019
    AMS Integration Bee another huge success
    Integration Bee Winners35 undergraduate and 14 graduate students sharpened their pencils and competed to see who would be this year's Grand Integrator.

    In this year's undergraduate bracket, Austin Konkel took home the Grand Integrator trophy with Shashwat Maharjan coming in second place.

    In the graduate bracket, this year's Grand Integrator was Mohyedden Sweidan with Arkabrata Ghosh in second place.  

    Congratulations to all our competetors this year! 
  • November 6, 2019
    CMU mathematics undergraduate published in journal
    Paper published in Journal of Biological Systems
    Matt Moore Matt Moore, a CMU undergraduate who earned his bachelor degree in both applied mathematics and biochemistry, recently published a paper in the Journal of Biological Systems titled “Steady state and sensitivity analysis of a Notch-Delta signaling system of one single cell interacting with fixed environment”. (View the paper here)

    The Notch–Delta signaling pathway is a highly conserved signaling system that partakes in a diverse process of growth, patterns and differentiation. Experiments have shown that Delta ligands from different cells activates this pathway (trans-activation) while Delta from the same cell inhibits this pathway (cis-inhibition). The Notch–Delta interactions could switch a cell to one of the two opposite fates: either Sender (high Delta/low Notch) or Receiver (low Delta/high Notch), and further drive a row of cells into alternating Sender and Receiver pattern.

    Steady states of Delta and Notch with respect to cis-inhibition strength k_C and Delta production rate beta_D. When log(beta_D)
    Steady states of Delta and Notch with respect to cis-inhibition strength k_C and Delta production rate beta_D. When log(beta_D) crosses 5 in the figure and log(k_C) is closer to 0, the values of Delta and Notch change sharply, which demonstrates the sensitivity of cell fate to Delta production rate when the cis-inhibition is strong.

    In 2010, a research group at Caltech published a mathematical model in Nature of this signaling system, which forms the foundation of many models developed later. But many of mathematical properties such as steady state and sensitivity were not fully investigated.

    Matt picked up this model and used many mathematical analysis tools to study this model, such as steady state analysis of differential equations, eigenvalues of matrices, Poincare–Bendixson theorem for period solutions, and Hopf bifurcation. First, he proved there exists a unique steady state which is asymptotically stable. Second, he derived the increasing/decreasing and asymptotic properties of the steady state with respect to all the parameters. Third, he studied the sensitivity and discovered the cell fate is only sensitive to the production rates of Notch and Delta under strong cis-inhibition, which is demonstrated by the Figure. Finally, he applied this model to multi-cellular cases and found that the lateral inhibition pattern could be created with the spatially varied Delta production rate.

    This project was collaborated with a talented high student, Yican Zhang in Suzhou High School in China, and guided by Dr. Xiaoming Zheng, a faculty in Mathematics.
  • October 3, 2019
    CMU is 1 of 6 institutions to receive the NSF Advance Catalyst Award
    A program is to increase the representation for women in STEM careers
    Student looking through microscopeCentral is committed to addressing barriers to institutional success for women in STEM at CMU wherein we define institutional success as successful recruitment, retention, promotion, and equitable salaries for women at our institution. In August 2019, Central Michigan University became one of six higher education institutions to receive the ADVANCE Catalyst Award from the National Science Foundation. "The goal of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) ADVANCE program is to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce." NSF website.

    Read the rest of this story here
  • August 15, 2019
    Student project selected for national conference
    Austin Konkel and Evan MillerTwo mathematics major students, Austin Konkel and Evan Miller, spent the summer researching "Bergman kernels of some singular Reinhardt domains''.  The project, co-supervised by CMU mathematics faculty members Debraj Chakrabarti and Meera Mainkar, was selected for a presentation at the Young Mathematicians Conference held earlier this month at The Ohio State University.  Austin Konkel was supported by CMU's Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program. Evan Miller was supported by a NSF grant. More information about the Young Mathematicians Conference can be found by clicking here. 
  • April 12, 2019
    Mathematics major wins big at annual Threads fashion show
    Danni Chen at Threads fashion show Danni Chen, a senior mathematics major, has already put one award on her shelf, and may have to make room for another.

    Chen nabbed the New Comer Award at this year's 21st annual Threads fashion show…not too bad for her first time participating in Threads.

    “I fell in love with traditional Chinese clothes while I was in high school.” Chen said. “After I came here in 2015, I found out that CMU has a Fashion Design minor, so I started to take my interest seriously.” Winning this award, “symbolizes a milestone that gives a successful ending to my college years.”

    Chen is also a finalist for the Department of Mathematics Richtmeyer-Foust award.

    Dr. Cleon C. Richtmeyer served as the Chair of the Department of Mathematics, and also as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CMU. Dr. Judson W. Foust served as Professor of Mathematics and later as President of CMU. It is awarded to an outstanding senior who is either a mathematics major or minor.

    After graduation, she plans on continuing her education in mathematics and pursuing fashion design as a hobby.
  • April 11, 2019
    Mathematics senior receives award for her presentation at annual MAA meeting
    Savannah Swiatlowski at M A A meeting Savannah Swiatlowski gave a presentation at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) held at University of Detroit Mercy, April 5-6, 2019. Her talk titled ``Automorphism Groups of Nilpotent Lie Algebras Associated to Certain Graphs'' was based on her summer research work with mathemtics faculty advisors Debraj Chakrabarti and Meera Mainkar. Savannah received the The Ron Mosier Memorial Award which is given to the student(s) with the most outstanding talk at the meeting.

    Savannah had also presented her work in Summer Undergraduate Michigan Mathematics Research conference at Michigan State University and in a prestigious undergraduate conference Young Mathematicians Conference at Ohio State University in Summer 2018.
  • April 9, 2019
    Carl Lee and Felix Famoye lock in NSA grant to fund this year's ICOSDA conference
    Carl Lee and Felix Famoye Now on their 3rd go-around, Carl Lee and Felix Famoye (faculty members from the newly formed Department of Statistics and Analytics) are organizing their 3rd International Conference on Statistical Distributions and Applications.

    Held every three years, Lee and Famoye’s first, supported by the National Security Agency, was held in 2013 here at CMU.

    Participants from more than 25 different countries attended the 2016 conference in Niagra Falls, supported by the Canadian Statistical Science Institute.

    So far this year, over 200 researchers from around the world are already scheduled to present their research and exchange ideas. The 2019 conference, supported again by the National Security Agency, will be held October 10-12, 2019 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

    Each CMU faculty member from the newly formed Department of Statistics and Analytics is serving this year as an organizing committee member; Felix Famoye and Carl Lee (Co-Chairs), Mohamed Amezziane, Chin-I Cheng, Kahadawala Cooray, John Daniels, Madhuka Samanthi, Jungsywan Sepanski, and Daniel Wang.

    All researchers presenting at this year’s conference are being invited to submit their papers for consideration of being included in a special issue of the Journal of Statistical Distributions and Applications.

    Click the ICOSDA 2019 website here for more information about this year's conference.
  • April 3, 2019
    Reyna Frost: Hard work ices success
    CMU women’s head basketball coach, star forward reflect on how math adds up for Frost
    Reyna Frost shooting basketAs the Central Michigan University women's basketball team bus rumbled to another game this past season, Head Coach Sue Guevara looked back to see two of her players writing on a foggy window. She went to investigate and saw Reyna Frost and a teammate working out a mathematics equation. Guevara smiled and went back to her seat, knowing that's just the way her star forward works. "She is doing so well in school and on the court because when she makes up her mind to do something, she works at it until she does it well. It doesn't matter how much time or effort it takes," Guevara said. That dedication to excellence is how Frost managed to carry a 3.68 grade point average as a mathematics major the same time as being named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. She hopes her success will encourage future CMU student-athletes to follow her example. Growing up, however, success in academics didn't come as quickly as it did with basketball.

    Read the rest of this story here
  • March 27, 2019
    CMU Alumnus returns as spring commencement speaker
    Subir ChowdhuryInternational best-selling author and management consultant Subir Chowdhury will speak at the 9 a.m. May 4 commencement for undergraduate and graduate students at McGuirk Arena in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center. Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group LLC, is recognized as an international authority on quality and management. His 15 published works combined have sold more than one million copies and are published in 20 different languages. Chowdhury's latest book, "The Difference: When Good Enough Isn't Enough," was recognized as a USA Today best-seller and a national best-seller in India. As a philanthropist, Chowdhury has focused on the education of the less fortunate of the world through the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation, a nonprofit that has donated millions of dollars to educational institutions since 2006.

    Read the rest of this story here
  • March 22, 2019
    CMU Alumnus returns for Graduate Student Seminar
    Matthew PlanteCMU alumnus Matthew Plante successfully defended a Master's thesis under the supervision of Professors Meera Mainkar and Ben Salisbury in 2015. He is currently studying in the Ph.D. program of mathematics at University of Connecticut. Matthew gave his talk at CMU AMS Graduate Student Chapter on March 22 at 2 pm in PE 226. The title of his talk is "Some Explicit Exampls of Homomesy".

    Current graduate students Arkabrata Gosh, Kati Moug and Nancy Matar speaks in April. For the details of their presentations, please check the Graduate Student Seminar webpage at http://people.cst.cmich.edu/chan1cj/GSS/
  • March 22, 2019
    CMU Alumnus returns for Graduate Student Seminar
    Sara RimerCMU alumnus Sara Rimer gave her talk at the CMU Mathematics Department Colloquium on March 21 at 4 pm. Sara did her Bachelor's degree at CMU. She majored in both Engineering and Mathematics. At CMU, Sara did undergraduate research in Mathematics as part of the NSF funded Long-term Undergraduate Research (LURE) program from June 2007-May 2009. In 2010, Sara was the Richtmeyer-Foust award winner given to the best math major. Sara continued her education at University of Michigan and received a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Currently, Sara Rimer is an Enrico Fermi Argonne Scholar at the Argonne National Lab at Chicago. For the details of Sara's presentation, please check the webpage of Department Colloquia at http://people.cst.cmich.edu/chan1cj/colloquia/
  • March 22, 2019
    CMU Alumnus returns for Graduate Student Seminar
    Chris KaoChris completed his graduate study at CMU and received a Ph.D. in 2016 under the supervision of Professor Sidney Graham. Currently Chris is an Assistant Professor at Flagler College in Florida. During his years at CMU, Chris was a frequent speaker at Graduate Student Seminar and a constant attendee of multiple seminars. For the details of Chris's presentation, please check the webpage of Graduate Student Seminar at http://people.cst.cmich.edu/chan1cj/GSS/




  • March 7, 2019
    CMU Alumnus and  Professorship recipient returns for Graduate Student Seminar
    Adam MorenoCMU alumnus Adam Moreno gave his talk at the CMU Mathematics Department Graduate Student Seminar on March 12 at 4 pm. Adam did a Master of Arts in Mathematics at CMU and continued on to pursue his PhD at the University of Notre Dame. He was the first president of the CMU graduate student chapter of the American Mathematical Society. Recently, Adam has accepted Hedrick Assistant Professorship, a prestigious postdoctoral position at the University of California Los Angeles. For the details of Adam's presentation, please check the webpage of Graduate Student Seminar at http://people.cst.cmich.edu/chan1cj/GSS/


  • January 14, 2019
    Carl Lee brings home Mathmatical Association of America Award
    Carl Lee Central Michigan University statistics professor Carl Lee has been awarded the prestigious Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award by the Mathematical Association of America. The MAA presents this honor to university mathematics faculty who have shown great success as educators and made contributions to the field of mathematics. "Lee is recognized for his outstanding contributions to teaching and learning in the mathematical sciences," said Michael Pearson, executive director of the MAA. "He provides tireless mentoring and helps any student interested in mathematical sciences and applications." Lee founded the Undergraduate Statistics Project Competition and also is a founding member of the Consortium of the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education. He developed the Real-Time Online Hands-on Activities Database which is now used by over 100 instructors at more than 50 institutions and was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.

    Read more about the Haimo Award here
  • November 27, 2018
    Integration Bee 2018
    2018 integration bee winnersThis year's AMS chapter's Integration Bee was another huge success. Around 50 people watched 23 undergraduate students and 10 graduate students compete in this year's event. In the undergraduate bracket, the grand integrator was freshman Shashwat Maharjan and the runner up was Austin Konkel. In the graduate bracket, the grand integrator was Kati Moug and the runner up was Pankaj Kumar Singh.


  • October 3, 2018
    (CM Life) University of Haifa professor Sfard lectures on strategies to teach mathematics
    Anna SfardUniversity of Haifa math education professor Anna Sfard discussed different aspects of mathematics in two lectures over two days for the 7th annual Fleming Lecture Series. Her first lecture was Oct. 1 in Bioscience Building Room 1010. Her second was a day later, Oct. 2 in Pearce Hall room 127. Part I: Mathematics Learning: Does Language Make a Difference? Sfard can speak Polish, Hebrew, and English, but the language she’s most interested in is math. “When you look at what people say about mathematics you find things like: ‘mathematics is the language of nature. It is the only true universal language. [Mathematics] springs from the soil of basic human experience,'” Sfard said. Sfard doesn't entirely agree. She sees math as a multicultural language, rather than a universal language.

    Read the rest of this story here in CM Life
  • May 9, 2018
    CMU Mathematics Professor Awarded National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Science Grant
    Olivia DumitrescuDr. Olivia Dumitrescu has been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation's, Algebra and Number Theory for the project titled "Enumerative Geometry of Hitchin Systems and Topological Quantum Field Theory".

    The award supports research in mathematical physics. The topological and geometric structures of various kinds of spaces have captivated mathematicians and physicists for many years. The project lies at the interface between algebra, geometry, combinatorics and analysis. The goal of this project is to study the interplay between topological recursion, Mirzakhani recursion of Weil-Petersson volumes, the classification theorem of CohFT for semi-simple Frobenius algebra and character varieties.

    In recent years the Dr. Dumitrescu has organized several workshops that have specifically facilitated interactions between different research communities. She will continue to promote interactions between enumerative geometry, algebra and the theory of quantization in the direction emphasized in this project.

    More information can be found here https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1802082&HistoricalAwards=false
  • May 9, 2018
    Dr. Mainkar Receives Summer Research Funding
    Dr. Meera Mainkar was awarded summer funding for the project: "Almost Inner Automorphisms on Nilpotent Lie Groups", with collaborators Carolyn Gordon (Dartmouth College), Tracy Payne (Idaho State University) and Cynthia Will (Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina) at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkley, California.





  • May 9, 2018
    Dr. Chakrabarti teaching at Berkley this summer
    Dr. Debraj Chakrabarti will teach a summer graduate course at MSRI, Berkley this summer. The ∂-Problem in the Twenty-First Century”, organized by Debraj Chakrabarti and Jeffery McNeal (Ohio State University).







  • May 3, 2018
    Mathematics Graduate Student Wins Award
    Sibbir AhmadMathematics graduate student, Sibbir Ahmad, recently won first prize in the 4th Annual Douglass International Student Essay Competition organized by the CMU Office of International Affairs.


  • April 26, 2018
    Mathematics Annual Awards Ceremony Recipients Mathematics Department Annual Awards Ceremony
    Honoring Outstanding Students
    The Mathematics Department recently held their annual awards ceremony honoring outstanding mathematics students at Central Michigan University.


    Hammel KME Award
    Yejean Han, Natalie DeVos, and Madison McEachern

    Miles Actuarial Award
    Michael Abruzzi, Julie Dukovich, Megan Dwyer, Garrett Goniea, Kara Hughston, Ashley Kerr, Austin Lord, Charles Morrell, Nick Olechnowicz, Tyler Steinhaus, Emma Welch

    Outstanding Tutoring Awards
    Ph.D. Recipient: Jordan Gill
    Ph.D. Honorable Mention: Matt Barco
    Masters Recipient: Travis Wheeler
    Masters Honorable Mention: Anand Panduranga
    Undergraduate Recipients: Madison McEachern and Riley Kench
    Undergraduate Honorable Mention: Andrea D'Amour

    Outstanding Teaching Assistant 2nd Year
    Anand Panduranga

    Outstanding Teaching Assistand Beyond 2nd Year
    Recipient: Christal Schoen
    Honorable Mention: Daniel Ntiamoah

    AMS Graduate Student Chapter Integration Bee Certificates
    Graduate Champion & Grand Integrator: Anirban Dawn
    Graduate Champion & Grand Integrator Runner-Up: Pranav Upadrashta
    Undergraduate Champion: Bridget Parker
    Undergraduate Runner-Up: Jacob Hart

    Michigan Take Home Challenge Exam Certificates
    Natalie Devos, Harry Fu, and Yejean Han finished in 40th place
    Paul Cappaert, Minjeoung Kim, and Savannah Swiatlowski finished in 48th place
    Jacob Barry, Jacob Briskey, and Grant Raymor finished in 62nd place

    Richtmeyer-Foust Mathematics Award
    2018 Recipient: Michael Abruzzi
    Finalists: Kirsten Domagalski, Megan Dwyer, Ashley Kerr, Dustin Stevens

    Edward H. Whitmore Mathematics Award
    2018 Recipient: Laura Vaccaro
    Finalists: Jennifer Becker, Chelsea Bourdon, Kelsey Schmitz

    Department Scholarships
    Brannan Scholarship: Samantha Ellis and Jenna Oetman
    Nikoline A. Bye Scholarship: Madison McEachern
    Jozefaciuk & Rutkowski Scholarship: Shelby Jayne
    Dr. Frederick C. & Lois M. Kabbe Scholarship: natalie DeVos and Gabrielle Konyndyk
    Master Scholarship: Sara Fisk, Kaidlin Jones, Rachel Pung
    Miller Scholarship: Ashley Kerr
    Richtmeyer Scholarship: Megan Engels, Jayda Sykora, Danni Chen, Zachary Honiss, and Nathan Stempky
    St. Andre Scholarship: Michell Kubiak and Austin Konkel
    Serier Scholarship: Emma Welch
    Whitmore Scholarship: Rebecca Bell and sarah Choate
  • February 9, 2018
    Math Grad Student Earns Outstanding Thesis Award
    Christopher GrowMathematics graduate student, Christopher Grow, was recently awarded the 2017 Outstanding Thesis Award for his project "Geometry of Symmetric Powers of Complex Domains". First established in 1984 as a way to recognize exemplary scholarly efforts by CMU graduate students and to foster professional relations among graduate students and faculty.
  • November 10, 2017
    Integration Bee 2017 a huge success.
    Integration Bee WinnersThank you to everybody to competed in and attended this year's Integration Bee. We had 22 undergraduate and 13 graduate contestants, but when it was all over our winners were:




    Anirban Dawn and Bridget ParkeUndergraduate Winners:
    1st Place - Bridget Parke, Runner-Up - Jacob Hart
    Graduate Winners: 1st Place - Anirban Dawn, Runner-Up - Pranav Upadrashta
    Grand Integrator: Anirban Dawn





  • September 12, 2017
    CMU math professor awarded Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant
    Olivia DumitrescuOlivia Dumitrescu, Assistant Professor of Mathematics has been awarded a Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant for her project entitled "Holomorphic Quantization of Hitchin Spectral Curves''. The grant will enable Dr. Dumitrescu to collaborate with other researchers on projects related to different areas of geometry: Hitchin theory, enumerative problems, moduli spaces and birational geometry.





    More information on the Simons Foundation Collaboration Grants for Mathematics can be found by clicking here
  • June 21, 2017
    Math brain drain begins early
    Negative stereotypes push 'great minds' to go elsewhere
    Persistent negative stereotypes about mathematicians keep talented students away from high-paying jobs and slow technological advances, a Central Michigan University researcher says. Women and members of certain ethnic groups take the biggest hit, said Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, a faculty member in CMU's mathematics department. The result for society as a whole: a big minus sign.

    Read the rest of this story here
  • April 27, 2017
    Student group brings home awards
    The CMU student chapter of the American Mathematical Society was recently awarded Best Programming Venture for their event "The Fall 2016 Integration Bee" at the CMU Student Engagement & Leadership Awards. Current Treasurer and new Chapter President, Sarah Hayes was also awarded the Emerging Leader Award.

  • June 27, 2017
    Mathematics professor receives Simons Foundation Grant
    Ben Salisbury, assistant professor of mathematics at CMU, has been awarded a Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant for his project titled "Crystals and Combinatorics". The grant will enable Dr. Salisbury to collaborate with other researchers on projects related to algebraic combinatorics and representation theory; primarily, crystal bases, rigged configurations, Young tableaux, and combinatorial statistics.

    Learn more about the Simons Foundation here
  • May 20, 2017
    Mathematics senior, Rachel Domagalski, receives 2016 Honors Academic Excellence Award
    The Honors Program Academic Excellence Award is the highest academic Honor granted from the University Honors Office. This award is given to a graduating senior annually in recognition of exceptional academic success and commitment to scholarship while at Central Michigan University.

    The recipient of this award not only stands out among the 20,000 member study body of CMU, but also stands out amongst peers within the Honors Program. As you can imagine, selecting this recipient is particularly challenging given the quality, quantity, and diversity of accomplishments represented in our Honors graduating class.

    Rachel is completing a major in Mathematics with a concentration in Pure Mathematics. She will complete her senior year with a 3.97 GPA even as she is taking graduate level dual enrollment classes to complete her masters degree next year.

    In addition to her Honors capstone project completed under the supervision of Dr. Narayan, Rachel had previously completed two separate summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates during her undergraduate career. The first in 2014 was at CMU where she focused work on mathematical frames in finite dimensions. The second program completed in the summer of 2015 was hosted by the University of Hawaii at Hilo where she, and I quote, "completely characterized the catenary degree of numerical monoids generated by a generalized arithmetic sequence of embedding dimensions in three."

    In addition to a variety of campus presentations, pieces of Rachel's research have already been presented in symposiums and conferences in Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, Seattle Washington, and Washington DC.

    Beyond these professional presentations, Rachel's work has also been published in conference proceedings with a co-authored manuscript also currently submitted and under review for publication.

    In addition to her research, Rachel's passion and skill for all things mathematical have also been reflected in her service as the President of Kappa Mu Epsilon – the Mathematical Honors Society, her work as a math grading assistant, and her role as a supplemental instructor for pre-calculus classes. Because of Rachel's overall academic strength and experience in mathematics, Rachel was one of only two students to be named a CMU Goldwater Scholar nominee in 2015.

    As is true with most of our top academic students, however, Rachel's experiences reach beyond one narrow area of expertise. We appreciate that she did participate in a faculty led study abroad program, has been an active member of the CMU running club and film society, and even competed as a Division I student athlete in the pole vault during her academic career.

  • May 6, 2016
    CMU professor awarded Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for research and teaching
    Central Michigan University statistics professor Felix Famoye​ has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program​grant to Nigeria in mathematics from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Famoye will research and lecture at the University of Lagos as part of a project to conduct research and implement hands-on activities and technology in statistics courses.​​

    Read the rest of this story here
  • April 14, 2016
    NSF grant received to help study complex analysis
    Debraj Chakrabarti, assistant professor in the department of mathematics at CMU, was just awarded a grant of over $100,000 under the National Science Foundation's Division of Mathematical Science. A portion of the grant will be used for undergraduate research in two area of mathematics…complex numbers and calculus. Complex numbers include quantities such as the square root of negative one. Calculus studies how physical or geometric quantities vary in space or time. The combination of these ideas (called complex analysis) leads to far-reaching and beautiful results about smoothly varying complex quantities (called holomorphic functions). These ideas can be used to model various natural phenomena such as electrical attraction or the motion of liquids. These considerations also have surprising consequences in other parts of mathematics, such as the properties of prime numbers, the geometry of higher dimensional spaces, and the study of equations (called partial differential equations) used to describe many physical processes such as heat conduction and the propagation of waves. This research project studies the behavior of holomorphic functions as one approaches the boundary of the region in higher dimensional space where the function is defined.

  • March 14, 2016
    Calculating March Madness
    CMU student crunches the numbers on NCAA tournament
    Central Michigan University actuarial science​ major Elizabeth Jackson is pairing her knowledge of statistics and love of basketball to calculate what it takes for a team to succeed in the NCAA Championship Tournament.​

    Read the rest of this story here