I believe that here at Raymond Walters College, students and staff should know each other by more than just their school IDs and class rosters. This is why I have interviewed the four new faculty members in the Math, Physics and Computer Science Department, so you can get to know them a little better.Because of space limitations, we’ll include two of the four in this issue, and include the other two in the next issue.
First, we have Professor Karen Smith, who grew up in Carbondale, Illinois, and earned a BS in Math Education from Southern Illinois University, an MS from the University of Illinois, and a PhD from the University of Iowa. How seemingly different areas of mathematics overlap and fit together truly fascinates Professor Smith.
I asked what made her want to study and take part in such a field and what made her want to teach it to others, and she responded, “I love to be there and see when my students finally ‘get it.’ It’s like a light bulb goes on over their heads!”
The most interesting thing about Professor Smith is that she has lived in so many different places, including Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey (in the NY metro area), England, and Canada, and she loves Jazzercise. She has even had the opportunity to participate in two different half-time shows for professional ball games.
Professor Rachel Frankel grew up in Los Angeles, California, but has spent some time in Israel and France. She has a BS in Applied Math, an MA in Mathematics, and a PhD in Mathematics, all from UCLA.
I asked Professor Frankel what most interests her about her chosen field of study, and she replied, “I am in the area of Applied Mathematics called Computational Fluid Dynamics-that’s a fancy name for using math to model the way that fluid flows. The applications of this type of knowledge are very useful in areas such as the movies, animation, and military defense. The problem that I worked on in graduate school concerned what happens when you shoot down missiles that carry dangerous biological liquids. Even if you can shoot them down, their payload could still harm the population below. To help solve this problem, I showed, using a mathematical model, how the liquids on those missiles react when they’re hit by other missiles. I like this field because it has such important and useful applications. Plus, the graphics are really cool.”
Professor Frankel wanted to teach others because she has enjoyed solving mathematical problems since she started algebra. She likes the fact that in mathematics everything is very black and white, either the answer is right or wrong. She told me she had many math teachers in school “who didn’t know very much about mathematics. I resolved to be a math teacher so I could show students the beauty and applications of mathematics.”
Professor Frankel’s hobbies mostly revolve around her kids these days. For example, now she can call herself a champion belayer for her rock climbing kids.
(To be continued next issue)