The College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (CPMS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael J. Dorff as the new chair of the Department of Mathematics.
CPMS Dean Scott Sommerfeldt made the announcement on 12 June, 2015. Dorff will be serving with associate chairs Paul Jenkins and Darrin Doud. Dorff, Jenkins, and Doud will be replacing former department chair Robin Roundy and associate chairs David Wright and Steve McKay. Wright served in his position for one year and McKay served in his position for three years.
In a statement given, Sommerfeldt said, “Michael [Dorff] has significant strengths, and we are confident that he will provide strong, effective leadership for the department.”
The Department of Mathematics Education will also experience a change, with Keith Leatham replacing Dan Siebert as the new associate chair.
In the Department of Statistics, Dennis Tolley has been reappointed for a second term as department chair with associate chair Gilbert W. Fellingham.
Michael J. Dorff, Mathematics—
Dorff received his BS in Mathematics Education from BYU and his PhD in Complex Analysis from the University of Kentucky in 1997.
Dorff is the founder and director for the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), which began in 2007. He also started and leads BYU’s “Careers in Math” Speaker Series and BYU’s summer 8-week Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). He has received over two million dollars in grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support and fund these programs.
Dorff has received national recognition for his dedicated work in developing mentored undergraduate research in mathematics. In 2010, Dorff won several awards, including the Distinguished Teaching Award from the college, the Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award from BYU, and the Haimo Award from the Mathematics Association of America. Dorff has also received BYU’s Lawrence K. Egbert Teaching and Learning Fellowship and was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012.
Dennis Tolley, Statistics—
Tolley has been the chair of the Department of Statistics since July of 2012. He earned his BS in Statistics from BYU and his PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1970-1974. In 1981, Tolley was appointed as an associate of the Society of Actuaries. He has worked at BYU since 1983, and has also worked at Duke University, Texas A&M University, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, and the National Training Center of Hydatid Disease in Xinjiang, China.
Tolley’s research areas include statistical methods in analytic chemistry and actuarial methods in health application of statistical mechanics to multiple agent problems.