Fall 2021 - New Faculty to Mathematical Sciences
Jason Bramburger, Assistant Professor
Dr. Bramburger, who started as an Assistant Professor at George Mason in the Fall of 2021, works at the intersection of dynamical systems, pattern formation, data-driven discovery, and polynomial optimization. He received his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Ottawa in 2017 and went on to receive an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship to study at Brown University and a PIMS postdoctoral fellowship to study at the University of Victoria. Research interests include providing a mathematical framework for nonlinear waves and coherent structures using a combined approach of analytical dynamical systems methods and novel computational methods such as machine learning, polynomial optimization, and computer-assisted proofs. He has been named a fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study in Guildford, UK for the 2021-2022 academic year where he aims to develop and apply model discovery techniques to infectious disease spread. He regularly uploads lecture videos and short video abstracts for his papers to his YouTube channel. He continually co-organizes mini-symposia and seminars, including GMU’s Applied Math and Computation Seminar.
Simone Mazzini Bruschi, Term Instructor
The Math Department welcomed Dr. Bruschi as a Term Instructor in Fall 2021. She has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses for over 20 years at University of São Paulo State, University of Brasilia, and George Washington University. Her research focuses on asymptotic behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems. She published 12 papers in refereed journals and is collaborating with researchers in Brazil and Spain. She has mentored undergraduate research projects and supervised several masters students. Simone obtained her PhD in Mathematics in 2000 at University of São Paulo-Brazil.
Timothee Bryan, Term Assistant Professor
Dr. Timothee Bryan joined Mason as a Term Assistant Professor starting with the Fall 2021 semester. Originally specializing in combinatorial representation theory at North Carolina State University (MS 2014 & PhD 2016), Dr. Bryan now works in math education employing active learning and feminist teaching pedagogies. Research interests include undergraduate mathematics education, symmetric polynomials, lattices, and algebraic formulae creation. He has received three awards for undergraduate teaching excellence.
Ahsan Chowdhury, Term Assistant Professor
Dr. Chowdhury joined the Mathematical Sciences department as a Term Assistant Professor in Fall 2021. His main research interests are in undergraduate mathematics education, specifically the teaching of mathematics. One of things of most importance to him is how to make mathematics relevant to students. This could be techniques such as showing students the utility of the subject in everyday experiences or by having them consider how thinking like a mathematician can add certain benefits to how one approaches life.
Brent Gorbutt, Term Assistant Professor
Dr. Brent Gorbutt joined Mason as a Term Assistant Professor starting with the Fall 2021 semester. Dr. Gorbutt received his PhD at George Mason University in 2019 and has been teaching at Mason since. His primary research interest is algebraic combinatorics. In particular his research can be termed “modern” Schubert calculus; that is understanding the geometry of certain algebraic varieties using combinatorics. Since completing his PhD, Dr. Gorbutt has taught a variety of classes and uses a range of formats to teach them including traditional lectures, online, and incorporating elements of inquiry and problem-based learning, flipped classroom, and active learning.
Rachel Kirsch, Assistant Professor
Joining the Mason team in Fall 2021, as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Kirsch works in combinatorics and graph theory. She completed her PhD in 2018 at the University of Nebraska and postdoctoral fellowships at the London School of Economics and Iowa State University. Her research interests include enumerative and extremal graph theory, combinatorics on words, universal cycles, and crossing numbers. She has published 10 research papers and has several active research collaborations. She was awarded the AMS-Simons Travel Grant and selected as an MAA Project NExT Fellow in 2021.
Benjamin Schweinhart, Assistant Professor
Dr. Schweinhart joined the faculty of George Mason University in Fall 2021 as an Assistant Professor. He earned his PhD from Princeton University in 2015 and held postdoctoral positions at Harvard University and the Ohio State University. Dr. Schweinhart studies the topology and geometry of complex systems. This work spans theory and applications, and falls under the purview of the emerging fields of stochastic topology and topological and geometric data analysis. Specific areas of interest include percolation in higher dimensions, stochastic growth models, persistent homology and machine learning, and the methods to quantify the geometry of materials microstructures. Dr. Schweinhart looks forward to teaching a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses at GMU.
Pamela Yusko, Term Instructor
Pam Yusko has been teaching undergraduate mathematics for over 30 years. While she is new to our term instructor team as of Fall 2021, she has been teaching at George Mason for over two years. She uses active learning in her courses.
