Afternoon Plenary Lecture II
Kidney transplants, the Iron Man suit, and Pixar's movie "the Incredibles"
presented by
Michael Dorff
Professor, Brigham Young University
Visiting Mathematician, Mathematical Association of America
Abstract: In Oct 2010, an article, How much math do we really need?, was published in the Washington Post. The author, a mathematician, wrote "Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life" and "All the mathematics one needs in real life can be learned in early years without much fuss." Is this true and what does this have to do what Black-Scholes, the Iron Man suit, and an advisor to the President of the United States?
Biosketch: Michael Dorff is a professor of mathematics at Brigham Young University in Utah and is currently on sabbatical as a visiting mathematician at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in Washington DC. He earned his PhD in 1997 a PhD from the Univ of Kentucky in complex analysis. He has published about 25 research papers and has given talks at over 150 different conferences, universities, and colleges. He founded the BYU mathematics REU and in 2007 he founded CURM, the national Center of Undergraduate Research in Mathematics, which promotes, trains, and supports professors across the U.S. in doing research with undergraduate students. He is governor of the MAA Intermountain section, member of the Executive Board of CUR (Council on Undergraduate Research), and member of the editorial boards of the journals American Math Monthly and Involve. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland and has received numerous teaching awards including the MAA's national teaching award, the Haimo Award, in 2010. He is married with 5 daughters. His interests include reading, traveling, running, soccer, and popularizing math.