Title: Building and Growing Undergraduate Mathematics Programs

Abstract: In this talk, I will share lessons from developing undergraduate research opportunities and community-building. I will discuss the growth of our undergraduate research programs, including an NSF-funded REU Site, and how our program has evolved from a primary focus on mathematical analysis to broader connections with computer science, computation, and emerging areas of mathematics.

Along the way, I will highlight selected student projects and results in spectral geometry, reinforcement learning, Gröbner bases, and discrete optimization. I will conclude with practical lessons about recruiting students, building mentoring structures, and creating programs that can evolve with students, faculty, and new mathematical directions.

Refreshments:
3:45 – 4:05 pm
Ritter Hall 235

Colloquium:
4:10 – 5:00 pm
Ritter Hall 323

BioSketch: Dr. Zeytuncu earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 2010. He was a visiting assistant professor at Texas A&M University before joining the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 2013. As a research mathematician, he works in several complex variables, operator theory, and complex geometry. In addition to his regular teaching and research activities at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Yunus also coordinates the NSF REU Site in Mathematical Analysis and Applications, directs the Center for Mathematics Education, and mentors at the Polymath Jr. Summer Program. In 2019, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). In 2021, the Michigan Association of State Universities selected him as Michigan Professor of the Year.