Charles Franke Memorial Lectures
Each year in the spring, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Seton Hall University invites a distinguished speaker to give a lecture in memory of our former chair, Charles Franke.
Upcoming Spring 2008 Lecture
Here is a list of previous speakers:
- [2008] Fred S. Roberts from Rutgers University
- Graph-theoretical Models of the Spread and Control of Disease and of Fighting Fires
- [2007] Tuck Washburn from Seton Hall University
- The Jacobian Conjecture
- [2006] Ed Sandifer from (March 2006)
- Mathematics and Controversy: Examples from Euler
- [2005] Harold M. Edwards from Courant Institute (April 2005)
- TBA
- [2004] Frank Boesch from Stevens Institute of Technology
- Applications of Graph Theory
- [2003] Jeff Lagarius from ATT
- "The '3 X + 1' Problem"
- [2002] Scheduled lecture had to be canceled
- [2001] Andrew Odlyzko from ATT
- "Zero's of the Zeta Function"
- [2000] Janos Pach, New York University (March 2000)
- "Crossroads in Flatland"
- [1999] John H. Conway, Princeton University (March 1999)
- "The Monster"
- [1998] Harold Edwards, Courant Institute (March 1998)
- "The Foundations of Algebra"
- [1997] Joan Birman, Columbia University (April 1997)
- "The Theory of Knots"
- [1996] Ingrid Daubechies, Princeton University (March 1996)
- "Wavelets"
- [1995] N.J.A. Sloane, Bell Laboratories (March 1995)
- "Arrangements of Points on Spheres"
- [1994] Ronald Graham, Bell Laboratories (March 1994)
- "The Mathematics of Juggling"
Spring 2008: Fred S. Roberts Lecture
Abstract: Mathematical models are increasingly important in understanding ways to combat the spread of disease, whether due to natural outbreaks such as influenza or deliberate outbreaks caused by bioterrorists. We will discuss the role of the mathematical sciences in modeling the spread of disease and describe specific models that use the tools of graph theory to understand strategies for vaccination, quarantine, etc. We will describe recent work on abstract models of the control of fires that are mathematically analogous to the disease spread models. The talk will be self-contained and appropriate for general audiences. Background in graph theory, epidemiology, or firefighting is not required.
Biography: Dr. Roberts is a professor of mathematics at Rutgers and is also director of DIMACS, the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. DIMACS was created in 1988 as a consortium of four institutions, Rutgers University, Princeton University, AT&T Bell Labs and Bellcore, and is one of the first of the 11 NSF Science and Technology Centers. Dr. Roberts has written extensively on traditional discrete mathematics and computer science and also on computational biology and epidemiological research.
Spring 2004: Frank Boesch Lecture
Abstract: The degree sequence is an elementary yet non-trivial characteristic of a graph . Euler gave properties of degree sequences in his 1736 paper that created the discipline of graph theory and also solved the Konigsberg Bridge Puzzle. A recent popular puzzle involving the number of time people shake hands at a party also involves properties of degree sequences. In this talk we shall discuss the degree sequence properties related these puzzles and also show several other graph theoretic results involving degree sequences. We conclude with a new unanswered puzzle about degree sequences and a conjecture regarding its solution.Biography: Frank Boesch is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now Polytechnic University). He has held faculty positions at Polytechnic University, Pratt Institute and the University of California, Berkeley. He has also been a member of the technical staff of the operations research division of AT&T Bell Laboratories for 17 years.
A cofounder of the international journal NETWORKS, Frank served as its editor-in-chief for more than 30 years. He has also been an editor of the journal Graph Theory. He is the author of Large Scale Networks: Theory and Design, published by Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Press. He has published over 70 papers in the field of graph theory and networks. He is a life fellow of the IEEE and a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Last Modified: Feb 2005
Maintained by: Math/CS @ SHU.edu (bgw)