Editor's Note: This is the twenty-first in a series of spotlights on Mathematics and Statistics Faculty. Dr. Tom Judson joined us as a professor in Fall 2008 and is retiring at the end of this school year.
Skiing, cycling, traveling, and yoga. I have been riding (and racing) bicycles for decades and have ridden over many of the mountain passes that are used in the Tour de France. I once competed in a ski downhill race. Going 60+ mph on skis is interesting to say the least.
Spending several summers in Japan doing some research and learning Japanese. I have written a journal article in Japanese. Japan is definitely not Kansas.
Writing an abstract algebra textbook that has become very widely used. In addition to English, my textbook is now available in Spanish and braille.
Skiing, cycling, old movies, eating good food. French and Japanese cuisine are two of my favorites.
Classification of infinite dimensional complete filtered Lie algebras. I found a good advisor who suggested a good problem. Not many applications outside of pure mathematics.
I am doing a lot of research in mathematics education and PreTeXt, a markup language for writing textbooks.
Falling off of a cliff while I was rock climbing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And almost following off a mountain in the Grand Tetons.
I was a full certified professional ski instructor for 5 years at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. I taught skiing part-time at Mount Bachelor when I was in graduate school at the University of Oregon.
Floss.
I have been fortunate to do quite a range of different things: teach at Harvard University in addition to SFA, learn Japanese and French, do interesting math, and travel.
The purpose of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics is to attract and retain the best available scholars who actively pursue knowledge of mathematics, statistics, and/or mathematics education and who skillfully communicate their knowledge of the subject to their students, colleagues, and the community as a whole.
Specific roles of the Department are: