Academics, Publications & Research

Longtime Faculty Member and Emeritus Professor Charles (Chuck) Cable Passes Away

Charles A. (Chuck) Cable
January 15, 1932 – September 16, 2021

Charles A. (Chuck) Cable, a mathematics educator and Professor Emeritus from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, died on September 16, 2021 following a 24 year battle with prostate cancer.  He was born on January 15, 1932 in Akeley, PA and is a son of Elton and Margaret (Fox) Cable.  In 1955 he married Mabel E. Yeck.

Chuck graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1954 with a BS Degree in mathematics  and he began teaching high school mathematics and physics in Interlaken, New York in the fall of 1954.  His teaching was interrupted in January of 1955 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served for two years at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.  After being honorably discharged in January 1957, Chuck taught at Tidioute High School in Tidioute, PA.  He enjoyed teaching mathematics there for 1½ years.  At this point he needed to obtain more college credits to become a permanently certified teacher in the State of Pennsylvania.  Normally the GI Bill would have provided the tuition for these credits but the GI Bill had ended in 1956 and was not reinstated until 1968.  Scholarships were being offered by National Science Foundation (NSF) and also General Electric (GE) and he applied.  Chuck was surprised when he received two telegrams announcing that he was awarded both the 1958 Summer GE Fellowship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a full year NSF at the University of North Carolina (UNC) starting in the fall of 1958.  He earned a M.Ed. degree in mathematics from UNC in 1959 and then held a position as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA from 1959 until 1967.

At the beginning of a long but important journey in his life he attended the NSF Summer Fellowship at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME in 1962.  Upon returning to Juniata College in the fall of 1962 he continued to enjoy teaching full time while attending evening classes at Penn State University.  He received another NSF Summer Fellowship in 1964 and while on sabbatical leave in 1965 he passed the written exams for the Ph.D.  After receiving a one year NSF Faculty Fellowship in 1967 and a National Defense Act Fellowship in 1968 he graduated from Penn State University with a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1969.  His Ph.D. dissertation was titled “The Decomposition of Certain Group Rings” and was written under the supervision of Dr. Raymond Ayoub.  In 1969 Chuck was appointed as an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.  He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1975.

Shortly after starting at Allegheny College Chuck became chair of a young math department with the goal of making it one of the best in the college.  He skillfully and successfully led the department for 20 years.  He was especially proud of his efforts to institute a Math Department Speakers Series in 1972 which invited nationally known mathematicians to give a week-long series of talks at Allegheny College each Fall Term and Spring Term.  These speakers also interacted with students in small group discussions and at mealtimes both on campus and at the Cable home.  He also began an annual publication of Math News which was distributed to all Math Alumni of the College.

Chuck was held in high esteem by his colleagues on the faculty of Allegheny College.  He was elected to serve five three year terms on Faculty Council.  He served as Chair of the Science Division and a two year term as President of the local Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Dr. Cable was a member of the Mathematics Association of America (MAA) for sixty years at both the sectional and national level.  He was Chairman of the Allegheny Mountain Section from 1973 to 1975.  He instituted a session for undergraduate students to present research talks at the annual Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting.   The Allegheny Section was the first section to have student sessions.

In 1982 Chuck was elected Governor of the Allegheny Mountain Section.  The idea of instituting student chapters was strongly supported by Chuck and he worked hard to convince the other Governors of its value.  The Student Chapter Program passed in 1984, the final year that he was a Governor.  He served on the Committee for Student Chapters for the first six years of its existence.  He is quoted in the February 2005 Focus saying, “When my initial efforts to form Student Chapters were unsuccessful, I was quite disappointed and I gave up.  However, several months later Paul Halmos urged me to try again saying that sometimes it takes a while to get used to new ideas.  I followed his suggestion and found that he was correct.  The persistence eventually paid off.”

He took a sabbatical in 1986 spending a year at University of Colorado Denver where he joined a graph theory research group.  He became involved in a project where he and his new colleagues introduced niche graphs, an extension of competition graphs which arose from the study of food webs.  Fortuitously it was presented by a coauthor as part of a talk at a special workshop at the University of Minnesota on applications of graph theory to the biological and social sciences.  As a result of this exposure and Chuck’s first paper in 1989, several mathematicians became interested in niche graphs and wrote a variety of papers.  Working with various combinations of five coauthors, Chuck published seven papers on the topic from 1989 to 2001.  A particularly nice paper was a complete characterization of niche graphs and mixed pair graphs of tournaments found by Chuck and his coauthors.  Chuck retired in 1996, but he continued his graph theory research after the niche graph papers and published three papers on king sets and quasi-kernels from 2005 – 2012.

He was honored to serve as one of the first group of Associate Editors of the MAA’s Focus.  His outstanding service to the Allegheny Mountain Section was recognized in 2003 with the Section Service Award.  In January 2005 Chuck received a Meritorious Service Award in Mathematics from the MAA at a ceremony in Atlanta, GA for his service to the MAA at both the sectional and national levels.

Chuck enjoyed competing in various sports activities throughout his life.  While he was a faculty member at Juniata College he played handball, basketball and tennis.  During the years when he was a professor at Allegheny College he engaged in tennis, racket ball, sailing and downhill skiing.  After he retired he continued downhill skiing, sailing and playing tennis.  He was admired for his great sense of humor.   Music played a very important part in his life.  He played the trumpet for many years, sang in the Meadville, PA First Presbyterian Church Choir and in the barbershop chorus at the Green Mountain Presbyterian Church of Lakewood, CO.

In addition to his loving wife, Mabel, of 65 years, he is survived by two children, Christopher Cable and his wife Nancy of Dallas, TX and Carolyn Blinsmon and her husband Brad of Denver CO; three grandchildren Ryan Cable and his wife Isabel, Dr. Tracy Cable and her husband Barrett Davis, and Heather Blinsmon; one great grandchild David Cable.  He is also survived by a twin brother Clair Cable and his wife Monchaya, who reside in Russell, PA and Bangkok, Thailand and a niece and three nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Charles and Mabel Cable Fund for Visiting Scholars and Speakers in support of the Department of Mathematics at Allegheny College, Institutional Advancement, 520 Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335.

This obituary was written by his wife, Mabel E. Cable and his colleague, Dr. Richard Lundgren, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado Denver

References:

  1. News Release, The Mathematical Association of America, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2005, Five Mathematicians Honored with Meritorious Service Awards.
  2. Joint Mathematics Meetings, Atlanta, GA, January 5-8, 2005, Program Booklet, Certificates of Meritorious Service, p.27-28.
  3. MAA Focus, Vol.25, No.2, February 2005. Fernando Gouvea and Joe Gallian, Prizes and Awards at the Atlanta Joint Mathematics Meetings, Section Certificates of Meritorious Service, Charles Cable, p.14.
  4. MAA Focus, Vol.4, No.61/November-December 1984, Charles Cable, U.S. Students Rank Below Students from Other Countries in International Study, p.1.
  5. MAA Focus, Vol.36. No. 6, December 2015/January 2016, Kenneth A. Ross, Interview: Aperna Higgens, p. 19-20.
  6. Personal Communication

Mathematical Association of America Honors Allegheny Professor

Allegheny College Mathematics Professor Dr. Tamara Lakins has received the 2020 Meritorious Service Award from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

Allegheny Professor of Mathematics Tamara Lakins.
Allegheny Professor of Mathematics Tamara Lakins.

The Certificate of Meritorious Service, announced in a video ceremony in July, was presented for service at the national level or for service to a section of the Mathematical Association of America. There were five award recipients honored nationwide.

Lakins has been active in the Mathematical Association of America since arriving at Allegheny in 1995. During her first year at Allegheny, she participated in the national MAA professional development program for new Ph.D.s, called Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching).

“Many aspects of Project NExT greatly informed my teaching as a new professor at Allegheny,” said Lakins. “My continued relationship with MAA’s Project NExT, both nationally and in the local Section NExT I helped cofound in 1999, has enabled me to stay connected with current pedagogical conversations. Participating, and eventually becoming a leader, in the local MAA section gave me a valuable connection to the local mathematics community in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I have greatly valued and benefited from those friendships and professional relationships, and I was greatly honored to receive a 2020 MAA Certificate of Meritorious Service.”

“The individuals we honor represent the spirit of community that is at the heart of the Mathematical Association of America,” said Michael Pearson, executive director of the MAA. “Their willingness to give of their time, energy, and expertise to benefit their Sections and beyond serves as a fresh reminder of why the MAA remains so close to my heart.”

The Mathematical Association of America is the world’s largest community of mathematicians, students and enthusiasts. Its mission is to accelerate the understanding of the world through mathematics because mathematics drives society and shapes lives. Learn more at maa.org.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Allegheny Welcomes New Faculty

From a native of Italy who speaks five languages to a motocross enthusiast, Allegheny’s new faculty members bring many unique backgrounds and qualities to the campus classrooms in the fall of 2019. Let’s meet each of them briefly:

Kathryn BenderKathryn Bender
Assistant Professor of Economics

Kathryn Bender joins the Economics Department this fall and is helping students discover the economics of natural resources. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Centre College and her master’s and doctorate from the Ohio State University.

“I’m excited to start at Allegheny this fall,” says Bender. “I’m involved in several projects on consumer food-waste behavior and hope to find new avenues to explore at Allegheny around this topic.”

Her dissertation, “Date Labels and Food Waste: A study of the effect of label characteristics on food waste in the United States,” studies the confluence of environmental science, economics, and marketing in the food distribution ecosystem in the United States. She is also interested in exploring the effect of feminine hygiene programs in developing countries on the environment along with women’s empowerment, health, and education.

In her free time, Bender enjoys playing soccer, riding horses, and hanging out with her two dogs, Huck and Nala.


Bradley Burroughs '02Bradley Burroughs ’02
Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies

After graduating from Allegheny in 2002, Bradley Burroughs earned his master’s degree from Duke University Divinity School and his Ph.D. from Emory University. His first teaching job was at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. After resigning that position to attend to family needs, he taught for four years at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. “But I am thrilled to be back in Meadville and reconnecting to the Allegheny community,” he says.

His academic interests span a variety of theological and ethical thought. His most recent work has been in two areas. The first is Christian political ethics, which led to his first book, Christianity, Politics, and the Predicament of Evil: A Constructive Theological Ethic of Soulcraft and Statecraft. It has also led to other published pieces that assess practices of contemporary warfare. The second area of his recent work has been in how Christian thinkers have understood the concept of evil, which is the subject of his next book project.

Burroughs enjoys mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, and being outdoors generally, “or at least as much as I can do now with two kids in tow. Although not entirely unusual, one of my more surprising talents is juggling, which I learned from a hallmate in Baldwin during my first year at Allegheny.”

He also is proud that he was the first in his family to graduate from college.


Moira FlanaganMoira Flanagan
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Moira Flanagan is a lifelong morris dancer, a form of traditional English folk/pub dancing. She is also the newest chemistry professor at Allegheny.

She has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City and a Ph.D. in biophysical sciences from the University of Chicago. Most recently, she was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Chemistry Department at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Currently, her research combines biochemistry and physical chemistry techniques to understand the physical and photoprotective properties of heterogeneous biological pigments like melanin.

“My interest in the chemistry of biological systems also shapes how I teach,” Flanagan says. “I get excited to bring biological contexts into other fields of chemistry (as often as I can), but also emphasize the physical chemistry concepts (like entropy) in biochemistry topics.

“My teaching is based on the idea that everyone can learn science if they want to and I am here to help. I reject the idea that some people ‘get’ science and math and some people don’t,” Flanagan says. “One doesn’t need to be an expert in chemistry to critically analyze and problem-solve in a new context.”

Besides her affinity for chemistry, teaching and morris dancing, Flanagan enjoys cooking, especially fish and fresh pasta. “I also won a coloring contest in my local paper when I was 4, and actually still consider myself an amateur artist in drawing and cartooning.


Jessica Harris
Visiting Assistant Professor of History

Jessica Harris received her bachelor’s in history, master’s in Afro-American Studies, master’s in history, and Ph.D. in history, all from UCLA. She also held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto in the Department of Italian Studies. She taught at Santa Monica College as well as at the University of Toronto during her fellowship.

Her research focus is on the history of the 20th century United States and the World, Modern Italy, and Black Europe, “and I am particularly interested in gender and race, their intersection with material culture, and the subsequent effect on group identities,” Harris says.

Since she studies Italian culture, “I like to watch Italian films and listen to Italian pop music,” says Harris.

Her five minutes of fame occurred as a teenager, Harris says, “when my club soccer team and I appeared on an episode of Bette Midler’s sitcom ‘Bette’.”


Mahita KadmielMahita Kadmiel
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

Mahita Kadmiel has spent most of her life learning about human diseases, and she enjoys teaching students about how the human body works — or fails to work — in the event of a disease.

Kadmiel taught for two years as a visiting assistant professor at Colgate University. She is trained in biomedical sciences, completing postdoctoral training in molecular endocrinology at the National Institutes of Health. In addition, she holds a Ph.D. in cell and molecular physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in biology from Michigan Technological University, and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and biochemistry and medical lab technology from Andhra University in India.

“My academic interest has always been in improving our understanding of the molecular basis of human diseases,” Kadmiel says. “Too little or too much of stress hormones (glucocorticoids) and changes in sex hormone levels (estrogen and testosterone) have been linked to vision problems.”

She is investigating the function of these hormones in the cornea and retina using rodent models and cells derived from human eyes. Kadmiel also is interested in studying the role of hormone-mimicking chemicals (more commonly called endocrine-disrupting chemicals) on ocular cells and tissues and how they might influence eye health.

Kadmiel incorporates her interest in various forms of art not only in the biology courses that she teaches, but also in her time outside the classroom and laboratory.

“I enjoy working on art projects and DIY projects along with my two kids,” she says. “This is my trick to get mom-time and hobby time in one shot!”


Douglas LumanDouglas Luman
Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Douglas Luman joins the Computer Science Department from a background in creative writing and composition. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from Bradley University and his MFA is from George Mason University, where he studied poetry and was the Heritage Student Fellow in 2017. He taught in the University Writing Program at George Washington University.

“So, suffice to say, I am an interesting fit in computer science. The way I usually explain it is that all of my work is computational, even though it is done in a humanities-leaning context,” he says.

His MFA thesis, “Prodigy House,” was a computational investigation of an early literary algorithm (“Travesty”). His other work is all computationally based. “I essentially ‘write’ aided by software that I write and others (like Google Cloud tools — Translate, Speech to Text) that I use in conjunction with writing. During graduate school, I developed a computational constraint platform that I continue to run at www.appliedpoetics.org.

“One might say that my work is less from an academic background and more out of a discipline or practice,” Luman says.

Luman is also interested in approaches to computational pedagogy: that is, what do the humanities, writ-large, have to say about teaching computer science? “Is there some way that we can use humanities-based concepts/data to teach students what it means to be responsible for their code? I wonder if there’s some distinction here to remind both students and ourselves of the perennial lesson that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should,” he says.

He and his partner, the poet Jenni B. Baker, also run a book arts press called Container, where they produce other artists’ work in three-dimensional, novel forms, “which is to say as a gem tray of origami paper gems, etched glass bottles, or as cross-stitch kits, for example,” Luman says.


Rebecca OliverRebecca Oliver
Assistant Professor of Political Science

Rebecca Oliver received her bachelor’s degree from the Université de Montréal and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She arrives at Allegheny after teaching most recently at Murray State University in Kentucky and, prior to that, the University of Southern California.

Oliver’s research examines the politics of inequality with respect to labor markets and social policy in Europe. Substantive topics of her work include labor union strategies, collective bargaining institutions, public opinion, childcare policy and territorial inequalities in social policy.

She is currently completing revisions for her book, “Negotiating Differences: The Politics of Egalitarian Bargaining Institutions.” The book examines the following question: Why, in the face of common growing pressures toward greater liberalization and pay dispersion, are egalitarian bargaining institutions sustained or reconfigured in some instances and bluntly dismantled in others? Employing the cases of Italy and Sweden, the book studies developments in egalitarian collective bargaining institutions.

Oliver recently adopted a puppy named Griffin. “My interests of hiking, canoe camping, exploring and getting lost in new cities/towns, making cupcakes, skiing, playing tennis, attending live jazz concerts and visiting art galleries are currently taking a back seat to dog training,” she says.


Kelly PearceKelly Pearce
Instructor, Environmental Science & Sustainability

Kelly Pearce is a graduate of Juniata College, where she majored in wildlife conservation and minored in education. She received her master’s degree in applied ecology and conservation biology from Frostburg State University, and earned her Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Appalachian Laboratory.

She is a wildlife ecologist and conservationist with research interests at the intersection of ecological and social science, including the field of human dimensions of wildlife conservation. “I use quantitative and qualitative approaches to study how environmental, social, and policy factors influence wildlife populations and species distributions. I also strive to better understand approaches that mitigate conflict and encourage coexistence between people and wildlife,” she says. Pearce also serves on the Outreach and Conflict Resolution Task Force as a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group.

“My research has taken me to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, where I evaluated the ability of the river otter to serve as an aquatic flagship species for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” she says. “I have also been involved in a variety of wildlife ecology projects focused in western Maryland and West Virginia, including a study on eastern spotted skunks, Allegheny woodrats, and a variety of bat species.”

Pearce enjoys live music and spends much of her free time watching and traveling for shows, she says. Pearce also enjoys motorcycle journeys. “I rode my first motorcycle when I was 3 right into the back of the garage. I still love to ride on my parents’ farm in central Pennsylvania, and this past summer I earned three first-place finishes in a vintage cross-country motorcycle race series.”


Gaia RancatiGaia Rancati
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Neuromarketing in Economics

Gaia Rancati joins the Economics Department and will teach Principles of Marketing and Business and Managerial Economics during the fall semester.

Rancati is an experienced trainer and coach in both sales and customer experience specializing in retail, sales, team building, and management. She earned her Ph.D. in marketing and neuroeconomics as well as a bachelor’s degree in marketing from IULM University, and a master’s of leadership and management from Il Sole 24ORE Business School in Milan, Italy. She is a sought-after researcher and speaker in the field of neuromarketing where she applies the science of neuroeconomics for improving customer experience in the retail field with a focus on service encounters, sales transformation and artificial intelligence.


Lauren RudolphLauren Rudolph
Assistant Professor of Biology

Lauren Rudolph joins the Biology Department with undergraduate and graduate degrees as double-majors in neuroscience and psychology. She attended Washington and Lee University for her undergraduate education and Indiana University for her Ph.D. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles in neurobiology and neuroendocrinology, and then taught neuroscience as a visiting professor at Pomona College.

Rudolph’s research is generally focused on steroid hormones and how they act to drive certain behaviors, such as mammalian reproduction. Her wider interests include neuroendocrinology, hormones, reproduction, sex differences, and physiology.

“I am continually impressed with the ever-expanding range of steroid hormone effects,” says Rudolph, “and how hormones can alter behaviors. I study how hormones act in ‘non-traditional’ ways to change the shape and function of cells, tissues, and organisms.”

When traveling on planes, Rudolph says she tends to get into interesting conversations because she is often working on presentations about reproduction. She sees those discussions as part of her “unofficial outreach”: sharing her research with other people.

During her time at Washington and Lee University, Rudolph played volleyball on a team which won conference champions each year, earning a place in the NCAA tournament during her four years as an undergraduate. Besides volleyball, Rudolph also enjoys the outdoors, cheese, sarcasm, making up forced acronyms, animal fun facts, and March Madness.

“I am also skilled at removing the gonads of rodents (for research!),” she adds.


Rosita ScerboRosita Scerbo
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish

Rosita Scerbo joins the Department of Modern and Classical Languages as a Spanish instructor. Her research interests include Latin American and Chicanx visual autobiography. This includes photography, cinema, paintings, murals, and digital art. She is also a specialist in Digital Humanities and Hispanic digital pedagogy tools.

Scerbo was born in Italy but has spent most of her life studying and working abroad. “I’m a heritage speaker of Spanish, as I learned Spanish in my community as a child before I dedicated my life to the Hispanic language and culture academically in school and in college.”

She taught Spanish and Italian language, literature, and culture at West Virginia University during her pursuit of a master’s degree and at Arizona State University while earning her doctorate. She also has taught Spanish in Sevilla, Spain, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, during study abroad and Spanish immersion programs. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Calabria in Italy.

“I speak five languages,” says Scerbo. “I went to dance school for many years, and I’m particularly passionate about Latin dances, including salsa, bachata, and merengue. My two daughters’ names — one is human and one is canine — are Sol and Luna, that is Spanish for sun and moon.”

Sarah StangerSarah Stanger
Assistant Professor of Psychology

Sarah Stanger joins Allegheny’s Psychology Department and also plans to provide assessment and treatment services to children and families in Meadville as she works toward clinical licensure. Stanger attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She says her time there “ignited my passion for contributing to a learning community like Allegheny.” Stanger then traveled cross-country to attend the University of Vermont, where she taught undergraduate courses and earned a joint Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology.

Most recently, Stanger was in Portland, Oregon, completing her predoctoral clinical internship. While there, she provided assessment, consultation, and treatment services for children and families in a hospital-based setting.

Stanger hopes to observe interactions between families and children in a laboratory setting while at Allegheny. “I am interested in understanding the development of adaptive stress responses — both physiological and behavioral — in children and adolescents,” says Stanger. “This includes examining how parenting and other contextual factors, such as family socioeconomic status, contribute to this development.”

Outside of her professional life, Stanger has competed in horseback riding, enjoys skiing and snowboarding, and has a love for college sports and theater. She anticipates learning to cross-country ski while in Meadville, as well as attending her students’ productions and sporting events.

Asmus TrautschAsmus Trautsch
Writer in Residence

Asmus Trautsch studied philosophy as a major and German literature (modern and medieval) as a minor at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and at the University College London in Great Britain. In addition, he studied composition/music theory at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at Humboldt University, spending a term as a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York City. He has taught philosophy at the University of Dresden and has been a guest lecturer at other universities.

His research interests include contemporary poetry, philosophy of tragedy, philosophy of literature, philosophy of music, ancient Greek philosophy, aesthetics, and ethics.

“My interests lie in the arts, including fine arts, film and dance and in the ways in which the sciences and the arts work together for enabling understanding and new knowledge,” says Trautsch. “Also I’m passionately interested in how philosophy and literature can contribute to educating society and improving politics.”

Trautsch likes to engage in “entertaining dialogues with lots of curious questions,” bake cakes, conduct orchestras and play various musical instruments. He shares a fun fact from his past: “I once won second prize in a competition called ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ in Dresden.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

When Opportunity Knocks, Allegheny College Graduate Answers

Christopher Miller has always made the most of the opportunities presented to him. He just earned his bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College and will begin his career this summer at a New York City tech firm called Capgemini, a French multinational corporation that provides consulting, technology, professional and outsourcing services.

“I will be working as a technology consultant, assisting insurance companies to revamp or create new software to manage their clients. It’s a software engineering position,” he says.

In his pre-Allegheny life, Miller grew up in the urban neighborhood of Park Heights in Baltimore. As a sixth-grader, he was invited to attend the SEED School of Maryland, a college-preparatory, public boarding school where students from across the state receive a tuition-free education that prepares them for success in college and beyond. “Even then, I was interested in many different subjects like photography, Spanish, chess and much more,” Miller says.

He successfully completed seven years at the SEED School and, on the advice of a counselor, decided to apply to Allegheny, some 338 miles away from home.

“Going to Allegheny for me was terrifying at first. Coming from a city like Baltimore to a small town I’d never heard of with extreme weather conditions. I came to Allegheny on faith, faith that it would work out for me somehow,” Miller says.

And work out it did.

“When I arrived, I said that I would be the best person I could be,” he says. “I would try to treat people right, virtuous some may call it, and see what would happen. With that mindset, I have learned so much about the world, myself and how I want to live my life.”

“As a first-year student, Chris really stood out for his curiosity about and enthusiasm for mathematics,” says Tamara Lakins, chair of Allegheny’s Mathematics Department. “He connected in his second year with the professor of a pivotal required course for the math major, which led to his employment as an undergraduate summer research assistant to that professor, an impressive accomplishment for a second-year student. I was pleased that Chris was always comfortable stopping by my office to talk. He was eager to discuss with me his ideas for encouraging more students, and especially more students of color, to become math majors.”

Miller’s resume at Allegheny is impressive. He was a member of the Dimensions math club, the Chinese American Friendship Society, the Philosophy Club, the Chess Club, the Islamic Cultural Association, the Association for the Advancement of Black Culture, the African Student Association, Hillel, and the Nu Mu Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma. His major was in mathematics and his minor was in Chinese.

He spent the summer of 2018 in China, immersing himself in Mandarin and authored a blog he called “Chasing the Tea Leaves: My Journey East” about the experience.

“I was determined that I would improve my Chinese. The only way to do that was by going to China,” Miller says. “I remember the visits to the International Education Office and the long hypotheticals Lucinda Morgan (the director) and I would go over. I had never been out of the country. I had no idea where the money would come from, but it was like the whole campus used its entire strength to get me halfway around the world. I think that really captures the Allegheny experience — community.”

“When Chris returned, it was wonderful to see him enthusiastically sharing his study away experience in China with other students on campus at both formal gatherings and informal conversations,” recalls Morgan.

One of Miller’s biggest thrills at Allegheny was winning the 2019 Zingale Big Idea Competition, his third year entering the funding-request presentation contest that is open to all Allegheny and visiting college students. Miller teamed with Natalia Buczek, another senior at the time, to develop Aid Memoir, a communication app and website for patients with verbal and memory impairments and their caregivers. They each took home part of the $6,000 grand prize.

“I participated in the Big Idea Competition every year but my first year. The first time I participated, my team didn’t get past the preliminaries,” Miller recalls. “The next year, my team came in second with Munchyum, a food-delivery service. This year, I was close to not competing, but my partner, Natalia, convinced me otherwise. It meant a lot to me. It was the culmination of my Allegheny education, and it felt great to see what perseverance could accomplish.”

Miller says one of his most valued experiences at Allegheny was his community service. “Interacting with the City of Meadville and seeing how people live was really interesting. Being able to help others achieve their goals was very rewarding. It made me realize that education is not just what you learn in the classroom but also what you learn in life. Doing community service gives you the opportunity to gain wisdom from the people around you. In my education, community service has been like a spiritual teacher.

“I just want to tell those following me to Allegheny to be open to new ideas, experiences and people,” says Miller. “You never know who or what may change your life or how you may change someone else’s.”

Photo Credit: Derek Li

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Recent Allegheny Graduate John Hughes Named Academic All-America

Recent Allegheny College graduate John Hughes has been named to the 2017–18 Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-America Team.

Hughes becomes the 37th student-athlete in Allegheny College history to earn the prestigious Academic All-America laurel, and the sixth Gator men’s track and field/cross country student-athlete to do so.

A mathematics major and economics minor, Hughes graduated in May with a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average, and was previously recognized as Allegheny’s William Crawford Academic Achievement Award winner, the Allegheny North Coast Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner, and as the 2017–18 Allegheny Senior Athlete Achievement Award recipient.

Read the full story on the Allegheny Gators Athletics website.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Weir Gives Talk at University of Otago and University of Auckland

During her recent sabbatical trip to New Zealand in October/November 2017, Associate Professor of Mathematics Rachel Weir gave a talk entitled “The Changing Face of Undergraduate Mathematics Education: A U.S. Perspective” at the University of Otago and the University of Auckland. Weir also participated in the panel discussion “Promoting Numeracy Skills Across Disciplines,” which was organized by the Centre for Tertiary Teaching and Learning at the University of Waikato.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Holdener Examines Relationship Between Art and Math in Speaker Series

Mathematician Judy Holdener of Kenyon College will examine the relationship between math and art as part of Allegheny College Math Department’s Undergraduate Speaker Series on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Quigley Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

In her lecture, “Immersion in Mathematics Via Digital Art,” Holdener examines her venture into digital art with the creation of a mathematical artwork titled “Immersion.” The surface patterns in the piece reflect Holdener’s day-to-day immersion in mathematics, depicting patterns that relate to the content of the courses she teaches as well as research she has conducted with undergraduates in the area of dynamical systems.

Holdener will describe how the patterns reflect the connection between two well-known mathematical objects — the Thue-Morse sequence and the von Koch curve — and how the formal mathematical meaning of “immersion” plays a role in the composition of the piece.

Since 1972, the Math Speaker Series has brought Allegheny students into contact with many nationally and internationally prominent mathematicians. Holdener’s talk is funded by the Leila Parsons Fund.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Leech Wins Mathematical Association of America Teaching Award

The Allegheny Mountain Section of The Mathematical Association of America has awarded its 2017 Section Teaching Award to Instructor of Mathematics Cheryl Leech `87. Each year the award is presented to an MAA member in the Section who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary success in teaching, who has an ability to foster curiosity and generate excitement about mathematics, and whose teaching influence extends beyond their own institution.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Students Compete in William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

At he beginning of December 2016, Allison Ganger (’18), Keith Irvin (’19), Diptajyoti Mukherjee (19′), Jonathan Goodman (’19), Aubrey Collins (19′), and Christopher Miller (’19) took part in the 77th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical competition. The competition itself is a six hour long exam consisting for twelve exceedingly difficult questions covering a wide range of mathematical concepts. This past year the exam was taken by 4,164 of the top undergraduate mathematics students in the nation. The students from Allegheny College prepared for the exam during weekly practice sessions throughout the Fall 2016 semester overseen by Professor Craig Dodge (Mathematics).

Allison Ganger, Keith Irvin, and Dipta Mukherjee represented Allegheny College as the official team for the school. There combined scores were ranked against the other school teams in the nation. As a result of their hard work, Allegheny placed 112 out of 568 schools that competed.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research