Scott Wolpert Reappointed as Chair of UMD Department of Mathematics
Scott Wolpert, professor of mathematics, began a second three-year term as chair of the University of Maryland Department of Mathematics on July 1, 2016.
Wolpert, who joined UMD as an assistant professor in 1976, will continue to lead the department that ranks No. 17 in the latest U.S. News & World Report Graduate Rankings.
During Wolpert's first term as chair, the department hired five tenured/tenure-track faculty members and eight new lecturers, increased graduate student stipends and streamlined graduate written exams, and pursued innovative new courses in the undergraduate curriculum.
In 2015, the department received a $2.5 million gift from Michael and Eugenia Brin to create a new endowed chair in mathematics. The State of Maryland matched the Brin gift with an additional $1.05 million through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative.
The university renamed the Mathematics building William E. Kirwan Hall and the department established the annual William E. Kirwan Distinguished Undergraduate Lecture in 2015. The lecture and building honor Kirwan’s highly distinguished 51-year career in public higher education that includes 13 years as University System of Maryland Chancellor and 35 years at the University of Maryland, where he rose from assistant professor of mathematics to department chair and eventually to UMD president.
Prior to becoming department chair, Wolpert served as associate chair for undergraduate education in the Department of Mathematics; associate dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and associate dean of the Office of Undergraduate Studies. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1974 and 1976, respectively.
Media Relations Contact: Abby Robinson, 301-405-5845, abbyr@umd.edu
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About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.
