Math Dept 2025-26 Newsletter 8
Monday, 26 January 2026
Past newsletters can now be reached via the department website.
[Click on “About” and then “News and Events”].
Newsletter is sent out when there is something new.
Please send entries by the end of the workweek–Ed.
This issue celebrates our department's participation in the AMS joint meetings. Thanks to all who sent information – Ed
MEETINGS AND SEMINARS IN THE DEPARTMENT
Data Science Seminar
Faculty and Graduate Students are invited to present their research at the Data Science Seminar. This includes research in other areas that involves data science.
Contact coordinator for more information.
Co-ordinator: Edmund Ameyaw
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TUESDAYS
Seminar on Topological Semigroups
TBA
John Johnson from The Ohio State University has been speaking about “Characterizing relative syndetic and thick sets via derived sets along ultrafilters.”
Contact coordinator for zoom invite.
Coordinator Dennis Davenport
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Algebra and Combinatorics Seminar
Combinatorics & Algebra Seminar which had been running for a number of years at George Washington University will now be a joint venture between the GW and Howard math departments. The organizers of the seminar are Joel Lewis & Robert Won (GW) and Sam Hopkins & Minh-Tam Trinh (Howard). The talks will take place 4-5pm on Tuesdays, at GWU.
WEDNESDAYS
Math team/Math Club meetings
TBA
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Math Biology Seminar
Wednesdays
Coordinators: Katie Gurski, Yeona Kang, Joon Ha, Sayomi Kamimoto, Chris Kim
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THURSDAYS
Number Theory Seminar
Seminars will start soon.
This year, we’re planning a mix of research talks and group readings/presentations. The learning seminars will be on topics in algebraic number theory, including class numbers, Dirichlet’s unit theorem, local fields, and cyclotomic fields.
Contact coordinators for zoom link.
Coordinators: Angelica Babei, Daniel Mamo and Sankar Sitaraman
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FRIDAYS
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Graduate Students Seminar
TBA
Contact person: Aaliyah Bratcher
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Mathematics Department Colloquium
Fridays, 4.10 to 5pm. Room 213 and zoom.
On friday, Feb 6, Edinah Gnang of Johns Hopkins University will speak on A Functional Lens to Graphical Design
On Friday, Jan 23, Jim Yorke of University of Maryland, College Park talked about AI and the future of mathematicians and physicists.
The colloquium schedule and videos are available at this website: https://deleo.website/HU/colloquium.html
TALKS AND WORKSHOPS OUTSIDE DEPARTMENT
(Thanks to Dennis Davenport)
a) Spring 2026 Chicago Symposium Series
On Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science: Research and Practice. Takes place on Feb 6 and April 23 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. More Information
b) NSF-CBMS conference on Strong matrix properties and the Inverse Eigenvalue Problem
At Eastern Michigan University More Information
2. 2026 NAM Faculty Conference on Research and Teaching Excellence (FCRTE).
This year's conference will be at Clark-Atlanta University on April 10. Conference showcases research at HBCU's.
More Information and Registration
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Our department's participation in the AMS joint meetings in Washington, Jan 2026
Several of our colleagues spoke and organized special sessions at the JMM.
Many of our alumni who currently hold prestigious positions spoke at the special session on our Ph. D program (see below), including some who received their Ph.D under the guidance of our (emeritus) colleagues Neil Hindman and Louis Shapiro.
Talitha Washington along with our friend from Pomona College, Edray Goins, were among the organizers of NAM Special Session titled “50 Years of PhD Math at Howard – Commemorating the First Doctoral Program at an HBCU.” Among the speakers were our colleagues and alumni Caleb Ashley, Asamoah Nkwanta, Dennis Davenport, Talitha Washington, Shari Wiley, John Johnson, Lakeshia Legette Jones, Tim Myers, Kendall Williams, Edmund Ameyaw, John Kwagyan, Irene Moshesh and Moussa Doumbia. Talitha Washington has made an album with photos.
Bourama Toni organized a special session on our department's Collaborative research with PosTech (Korea). Speakers included our colleagues Meenakshi Nerolu, Joon Ha, Roberto de Leo, Malick Kebe, Sam Hopkins, Christopher Kim, Bourama Toni, Tim Myers, Yeona Kang, and Henok Mawi.
Joon Ha also organized a special session on Mathematical approaches to Biological and Medical systems.
Angelica Babei spoke on “Predicting Euler factors of Elliptic Curves” in a special session on machine learning in mathematics, on “Visual Tools For Exploring Mathematical Data” in a special session on AI in Combinatorics. She also organized special sessions on Undergraduate Research in Number Theory and Rethinking Number Theory.
Paul Bezandry spoke on “Almost periodic random sequences in probability.”
Meenakshi Nerolu spoke on Nanofluids in Science and Engineering: Fundamentals, Applications, and Future Trends
2. (Thanks to Dennis Davenport) An Interview with Tepper Gill
Video interview with our colleague Tepper Gill as part of the “Journeys of Black Mathematicians” series titled “The Blessing of Not Knowing.”
3. Almaz Abebe has published a paper titled Dynamical Systems Framework for Modeling COVID-19 with Levy noise in the journal Stochastics and Dynamics in 2026.
SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
(from various sources)
1. (Thanks to Dennis Davenport)
a) 2026 SLMath Summer Graduate Schools, a series of intensive two-week residential programs offered by the SLMath Program at UC Berkeley, started collecting nominations on Dec 1. This program offers an exceptional opportunity to study advanced topics with leading researchers across a wide range of mathematical fields. If interested please contact Dennis Davenport.
b) LA's BEST at USC A summer program in data science for undergraduates. More Information
c) Mercatus Center fellowship at George Mason University has fellowships for 2026-27 in classical liberal economy. More Information
d) Lathisms Scholarship 2026 applications are open until Feb 27. It supports Hispanic/Latinx students interested in mathematical sciences. More Information
e) NYU's PQAR summer program for undergraduates, using statistics and data science to study Aging. More Information
f) NSF-funded REU at UMBC: Online Interdisciplinary Big Data Analytics in Science and Engineering program open to students from the entire nation. Deadline March 1. More Information
g) MSRI-UP 2026, a six-week NSF-funded summer REU at SL-Math Institute in Berkeley, CA (formerly MSRI). Deadline Feb 15. This is an award-winning, comprehensive summer program designed for undergraduate students who have completed two years of university-level mathematics courses and would like to conduct research in the mathematical sciences. More Information
h) Memphis Teacher Residency program offers generous stipends for both summer and annual programs for undgraduates and graduates. They are having virtual information sessions on Feb 3 and 4. More Information
i) Robert Moses scholarship Application
This annually awarded national scholarship is designed to support the educational goals of a graduate student from an underrepresented group who is pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in mathematics education or a STEM discipline. The individual should also have a commitment to civic engagement.
The scholarship is named in honor of the late Bob Moses, a pioneering civil rights leader and educator who founded The Algebra Project, a national U.S. mathematics literacy program aimed at helping low-income students and students of color achieve the mathematical skills in high school that are a prerequisite for success in college and beyond.
j) University of Chicago center for RISC is inviting application from seniors for social impact lab analysts. More Information
k) Summer school on the interface of PDE and Probability, Carnegie Mellon, June. More Information
2. (Thanks to Talitha Washington) Summer workshop at ICERM, Providence, RI
During the eight-week program, undergraduate students will be introduced to the research topics in Mathematical Modeling through interactive lectures. Afterward, students will work on their projects in assigned groups of two to four, supervised by faculty advisors and aided by teaching assistants. Generous stipends and travel support provided.
3. Opportunities at DHS and DOE
Minerals Technology and Policy Fellowship
Deadline Feb 16. More Information
EM Stars program at DOE provides financial assistance for 2 years for undergrads and internships at their Environmental Management program.
4. Summer Institute in Biostatistics and Data Science (SIBDS) 2026 at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton Florida Campus): Undergraduates/early graduates with STEM courses can apply for NIH Funded Training Program: May 18th through June 26th, 2026. Deadline March 13. More Information
5. Summer 2026 NSF REU program in Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at Vanderbilt University. Program with a lot of successful alumni. Deadline Feb 15. More Information.
In previous newsletters
Boeing’s Visiting Professor program.
INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
1. (From Quanta Magazine)
Can string theory help to solve the parametrization problem in Algebraic Geometry?
Maxim Kontsevich and his collaborators have published a proof using string theory to show that a certain very general cubic fourfold is not rational. Article in Quanta Magazine