Math Dept 2025-26 Newsletter 2
Monday, 22 September 2025
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.
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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
11 am, on zoom.
First speaker on Sep 16 was Neil Hindman, about his joint work with Dona Strauss.
Title: Almost large subsets of a semigroup.
Contact coordinator for zoom invite.
Coordinator Dennis Davenport
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Combinatorics Seminar
Contact coordinator Lou Shapiro for zoom link.
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WEDNESDAYS
Math team/Math Club meetings
TBA
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Math Biology Seminar
Wednesday, 9/24, 1pm, on Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Wai Lim Ku, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Howard University Hospital.
Title: Potential of Gene Oscillations in Recovering Hidden Cellular Sub-Phenotypes
This talk will be on zoom. Contact organizers for link.
Coordinators: Katie Gurski, Yeona Kang, Joon Ha, Sayomi Kamimoto, Chris Kim
THURSDAYS
Number Theory Seminar
Thursday 2:15pm on zoom.
Daniel Mamo will start the semester off talking about basic algebraic number theory.
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.
Friday, Sep 26
On Sep 26 we will have a special event celebrating the Cox Centennial.
It will be 3 to 5 pm in Founder's Library. For more details on the weekend-long celebration see Announcements below.
Ahmet Yildirim of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey will speak on Oct 3. Title TBA.
Minh-Tam Trinh of our department spoke about “Zeta functions as Knot Invariants” on 9/19.
The colloquium schedule and videos are available at this website: https://deleo.website/HU/colloquium.html
TALKS AND WORKSHOPS OUTSIDE DEPARTMENT
1. (Thanks to Henok Mawi) Potomac Region PDE Seminar
This seminar seeks to connect researchers in PDE in the DC, MD, VA, W. Va area.
Seminar will meet on zoom on tuesdays at 11am.
2. Pathways to Graduate Survey and Data Science Training (U. Mich.)
October 4–26, 2025; Saturdays and Sundays, 12:00–1:00 PM EST
Free, online program for undergraduates and recent graduates with interest in the social sciences on the topics of data-driven survey and data science.
3. (Thanks to Dennis Davenport) International Enumerative Combinatorics Conference, Aug 17-19, 2026
University of Haifa, Israel is organizing this conference (ICECA 26) virtually.
4. (Thanks to Tim Myers)
a) 57th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory & Computing
March 3-7, Florida Atlantic University
Celebrating its 57th year, the Conference brings together mathematicians and others interested in combinatorics, graph theory and computing, and their interactions. The Conference continues to promote better understanding of the roles of modern applied mathematics, combinatorics, and computer science to acquaint the investigator in each of these areas with the various techniques and algorithms which are available to assist in his or her research.
b) The 43rd Southeastern-Atlantic Regional Conference on Differential Equations (SEARCDE).
October 25-26 2025, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
5. American Association for University Women programs
AAUW is offering several programs and fellowships. In September there are trainings on Economic Empowerment. For more details go to https://www.aauw.org/
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. (Thanks to Talitha Washington) Cox Centennial Celebration
On
Friday, Sep 26, instead of colloquium we will have a celebration of
100 years of Black Ph. D Mathematicians on the eve of 100 year
anniversary of Dr. Elbert Frank Cox's Ph. D.
Special event in
honor of Dr. Cox, organized by Talitha Washington of our department
and the Center for Applied Data Science.
Special location:
Founders Library
Special time: 3-5pm
On
Saturday, there will be talks and panel discussions all day on Dr.
Cox's life and work, followed by a reception.
Form
for Registration
2. Tim Myers writes: “I am happy to share that my paper entitled 'Some Occurrences of the Central Delannoy Numbers in Z_2[x] and Clifford Algebras' has been accepted in the peer-reviewed journal entitled Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing; Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics.”
3. (Thanks to Louise Raphael) MAA mathfest videos
Our alumna Naomi Cameron gave the invited AMS-MAA address at Mathfest, August 2025 where she spoke on combinatorics and graph theory. She earned her PhD in mathematics from Lou Shapiro. The link also includes Terrence Tao’s video et al. Need member login to access.
4. NAM Undergraduate MATHFest
The 2025 NAM Undergraduate MATHFest is a three-day meeting, which will be held from Friday, October 10, 2025, through Sunday, October 12, 2025. This event rotates around the country based on NAM's regional structure, and this year, will be hosted by Tennessee State University in Nashville Tennessee. It is held annually to encourage students to pursue advanced degrees in the mathematical sciences and mathematics education. NAM Undergraduate MATHFest will feature Student Presentations, J. Ernest Wilkins Lecture, Problem Time, and Graduate School Fair.
5. (Thanks to Louise Raphael and Dennis Davenport) 2025 Excellence in Transforming Post-Secondary Education (TPSE) Award
Prof. Nathan Alexander who teaches Mathematics and Statistics Education in the School of Education is the recipient of the 2025 TPSE award. He also teaches for the Data Science Master's Degree Program, which is managed by Howard’s Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics.
SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
(from various sources)
1. (Thanks to Sam Hopkins) BEAM is hiring
BEAM (Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics - website) is an organization dedicated to helping students from low-income communities study advanced mathematics. And they are currently hiring several high level positions. Application and details.
2. Blacktable (website for Black students to access career opportunities)
Ashley Petgrave is a computer science major at Howard University (and a student in my Discrete Structures class – Ed). She has founded Blacktable, a web-based tech startup that’s changing how Black undergraduate students access professional development opportunities like internships, all-inclusive conferences, and career-building programs. They’ve just launched their very first scholarship initiative — the Blacktable “Suited for Success” Scholarship— which will award two $300 scholarships to Black undergraduate students in the U.S. to help cover the cost of professional attire for internships, networking events, and leadership opportunities.
3. DOE Science, Technology and Policy Program– Office of Policy Fellowship
The Office of Policy (OP) supports the Secretary of Energy and the entire Department of Energy (DOE), providing analysis on domestic energy policy. During the ORISE fellowship, students will receive guidance from a mentor and will learn about conducting research analysis within OP.
4. (Thanks to Louise Raphael) DOE SCGSR Application Assistance Workshops
The DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for 2025 Solicitation 2, due November 5, 2025, 5:00 PM ET (website). Attend the upcoming workshops to learn more about the DOE SCGSR program, receive application guidance, and field questions to program area scientists.
Workshop 1: DOE SCGSR Program Overview, Abstract Preparation, and Selecting a Priority Area.
September 11, 2025, 2:00-3:00PM ET
Workshop 2: Application and Proposal Guidance.
October 9, 2025, 2:00PM-4:00PM ET
INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
1. (Thanks to Dennis Davenport) Systematic Fraud in Mathematics Research Journals
2. The curious History of Venn diagrams
We all have used circles to draw Venn diagrams for three sets. But for four sets we need 16 regions but 4 circles can represent only 14. Ellipses will work for 4 and 5 sets (with 16 and 32 regions) but beyond that we would need other shapes. Researching the geometry of Venn diagrams is a rich and interesting topic in itself.