May 11, 2012

The Department of Mathematics is excited to introduce two new professors who will be joining us as Visiting Assistant Professors for 2012-14.  Both will have just finished their Ph.D. programs, Justin Peachey in mathematics and Raghuram Ramanujan in computer science.

Raghuram Ramanujan is completing a Ph.D. computer science from Cornell University specializing in the field of artificial intelligence and also minoring in Education.  He has a bachelor's degree from Purdue University in computer engineering with a minor in Economics.  Professor Ramanujan has broad interests and is looking forward to teaching computing in the context of a liberal arts college.  In addition to supporting and expanding our computer science offerings, Ramanujan will teach theoretical math, such as Sets and Proofs, and is also interested in exploring computer science in philosophy and non-major courses.  At Cornell, Ramanujan twice received an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.  He has mentored a student project on computer play of Texas Hold'Em Poker and has participated in outreach to middle schools.  He has several conference and workshop publications, including an honorable mention for best student paper at a conference in Germany last summer.  A hobby is nature and wildlife photography.

Justin Peachey received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Clemson University in December, specializing in applicable algebra.  He earlier received a masters from Clemson and won the Outstanding Masters Student Award.  He has a bachelor's degree in mathematics secondary education from Grove City College in Pennsylvania.  Peachey is interested in connections between algebra, coding theory, and graph theory.  He is looking forward to teaching a broad cross-section of undergraduate mathematics.  Peachey played a key role in instruction and development of materials for the math portion of Project WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) summer camp for middle school girls, engaging them in activities in cryptography and error-correction schemes.  Peachey already has a publication in an AMS journal, a couple under review, and a couple in preparation.  Peachey was also a senator in the Clemson graduate student government.

Welcome to Professors Peachey and Ramanujan!