Greetings and welcome to the University of Florida Department of Mathematics. We are a growing and dynamic group of mathematicians engaged in cutting-edge research, high-quality teaching, and outreach to the wider community. Over the last several years we have added more than two dozen faculty, pushing us past the 60 professor mark. With our 80 graduate teaching assistants we serve nearly 8,000 undergraduate students every semester. It is not an exaggeration to say that our department impacts every student at the university.
We have strong research groups in algebra, analysis, biomathematics, combinatorics, logic and set theory, number theory, numerical analysis, and geometry, topology, and dynamical systems. Four of our professors currently hold CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the highest honor bestowed by the agency on early-career faculty (and another is a former recipient). Departmental research efforts are supported by several outside funding agencies, including the NSF, the Army Research Office, the National Security Agency, DARPA, and the Simons Foundation. We boast three University Distinguished Professors and two members of the UF Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars.
Our instructional faculty bring innovation and experience to the classroom. We are developing new instructional methods to enhance student learning and engagement. The Xronos project, an online homework tool, saves students hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by eliminating textbook and other course costs. Our online courses serve hundreds of students each term across campus and around the world. Our faculty regularly win teaching awards from the university and supervise exceptional undergraduate researchers.
The department’s graduate students are supported by research fellowships and teaching assistantships. They excel in their research endeavors, leading to placements in mathematics departments and private industry around the world. They are just as impressive in the classroom, helping our undergraduates master the material they need for their majors and winning university-wide graduate student teaching awards for doing so. The Graduate Mathematics Association enhances the social and intellectual life in the department by hosting picnics and seminars.
Many of our undergraduate majors go on to some of the best graduate programs in the country. Others pursue graduate and professional study in other disciplines. Still others go to work for top corporations in a variety of fields. They engage in research projects through the University and CLAS Scholars Programs, participate in the annual William Lowell Putnam Examination, and through the University Math Society organize the annual Integration Bee and other mathematical events.
In short, we are a top department at a top university. I invite you to look around and find out just how great we are.
Kevin Knudson
Professor and Chair