Ratnasingham Shivaji
H. Barton Excellence Professor
Fellow of the American Mathematical Society
Office
Petty 148
Office Hours
Summer 2026: N/A
Education
Degree(s): Ph.D. in Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University (1981); B.Sc (First Class Honors) (Special Degree in Mathematics), University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya (1977)
Research Interests
Study of non-negative solutions to steady-state reaction-diffusion equations arising in the modeling of natural phenomena including ecology and combustion theory. Recent results focus on singular problems, nonlinear diffusion, and nonlinear boundary conditions.
Brief Biography
Ratnasingham Shivaji joined the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) as Head in July 2011 and served in this position until July 2019. Since January 2012, he is also serving as H. Barton Excellence Professor. Prior to joining UNCG, he served for twenty-six years at Mississippi State University (MSU), where he was honored as a W.L. Giles Distinguished Professor. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1981 and his B.S (first-class honors and special degree in mathematics) from the University of Sri Lanka in 1977. Shivaji’s area of specialization is partial differential equations, and in particular, nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems. His research work has applications in combustion theory, chemical reactor theory, and population dynamics, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Simon’s Foundation. Currently, he is serving as the PI on an NSF Math Ecology grant. To date, he has authored one hundred ninety research papers. He was honored as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for research contributions, mentoring, and leadership. He is the recipient of the 2020 Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Southeastern Section Award for Distinguished University Teaching of Mathematics and the 2024 Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Outstanding Mentor Award. He is a member of the Editorial Board of several mathematics journals. To date, he has directed one postdoctoral student, twenty Ph.D. students (19 graduates, 1 current), sixteen M.S. graduates, and thirty-six undergraduate research students (30 past, 6 current).