I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics
at University of Northern Iowa, where I have
worked since 2007. Before that, I had a one-year visiting position at Williams College and was a VIGRE Lovett
Instructor at Rice University for three years. I studied at The Ohio State University and at University of Michigan.
I was originally hired to teach all of the geometry classes at UNI, and I still teach fair number of them. Of course, every course in mathematics can be a geometry course, if you look at it the right way. My teaching interests include: inquiry-based learning (IBL), standards based grading, undergraduate research, and technology in the mathematics classroom. These days, I most often teach Euclidean Geometry and Linear Algebra, both of which have an IBL flavor to them. I have done a little bit of work on the scholarship of teaching and learning, all of it having to do with IBL.
My
mathematical interests are centered around geometry and topology. In the past,
I have worked on things like the rigidity theory for actions of lattices on
compact manifolds (a mix of differential geometry, Lie theory, and dynamical
systems) and some mathematical biology. These days, I like to think about knot
theory and related questions in 2- and 3-dimensional topology.
I have worked with a lot of students in my time at UNI, both undergraduate and
graduate, and my most recent students have all worked on questions in knot
theory.
Here is my latest Curriculum Vitae.
Away from the math department, I can be found enjoying soccer (I used to play, but now I watch my daughter and Sporting Kansas City, and I referee locally), fussing over the trees I planted in my yard, drinking good tea, playing fancy board games, reading, or telling ridiculous stories with my children.
