The conference is dedicated to Mark Freidlin on occasion of his birthday and is devoted to recent progress in probability and partial differential equations. It will take place at the University of Maryland, College Park,  May 20 - 24, 2013. Visit the conference web site for more information.

We are sad to note the death of Professor Emeritus Frank Olver, who passed away on April 23, 2013 at the age of 88. Frank was an expert on numerical analysis and special functions, and editor of the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions, a great mathematical resource. His book on Asymptotics and Special Functions is still considered a mathematical classic. Frank retired from the University of Maryland in 1992, but continued to work on mathematics until his death. He received the Gold Medal of the US Department of Commerce in 2011.

Maryland sophomore Stephen Randall, a double major in mathematics and physics, is one of three University of Maryland students to win Barry Goldwater scholarships this year. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater and to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers.

Professor Doron Levy, currently the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, has been named a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher for 2013-2014. The Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Program, established in 1978, honors a small number of faculty members each year who have demonstrated notable success in both scholarship and teaching. Distinguished Scholar-Teachers make a public presentation on a topic within their scholarly discipline, and receive an honorarium of $5000 to support their professional activities.

Linette Berry from the Graduate Office has been awarded the 2013 President's Commission on Women's Issues Outstanding Non-Exempt Staff Award.  She was honored at a reception on April 2nd from 2:30-4:30pm in the Atrium at the Stamp Student Union.

Sharon Welton from the Business Office will receive the CMNS Exempt Employee Award.  Haydee Hidalgo from the Graduate Office will receive the CMNS Non-Exempt Employee Award. Sharon and Haydee will be honored at the CMNS Academic Festival to be held on May 10, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. in the Atrium of the Chemistry Building.

 

Konstantina Trivisa and Leonid Koralov were recently awarded Simons Fellowships in Mathematics to support release time for research next year.

According to the Simons Foundation statement: "Research leaves from classroom teaching and administrative obligations can provide strong intellectual stimulation and lead to increased creativity and productivity in research. The Simons Fellows program is intended to increase the opportunity for such leaves and to make leaves more productive by enabling extension of sabbatical leaves from one academic term to a full academic year."

Trivisa is going to use her fellowship to spend her upcoming sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2013) and École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (Spring 2014). Koralov's plans are not completely set yet but he plans to make several short-term visits to various institutions. Last year's Simons award winners included former department member Richard Schwartz.