http://math.uwyo.edu/Prof_home/Allen.html
Susan Buchman
hey all,
i'm in my final year as a math major at MIT, where
i've had an amazing time.. somehow, in between roadtrips, simpsons
marathons, and 3 am snow ultimate, i actually managed to absorb a decent
amount of math and CS. i also joined the water polo team and i have to
say (although many will label this as blasphemy) it definitely trumps
ultimate.
next year I'll be moving to manhattan to work for fish and neave, a law
firm, and attend law school (still undecided as to which). but don't
worry, i'll always be a math dork at heart. susan buchman ('96,'97)
p.s. i hope to see everyone at the 2001 reunion.
Neville Campbell
My participation in the
1970 Ross Program had a strong influence on me and was a very memorable
adventure. I received my B.A. in mathematics from the University of
California, Santa Barbara. Glenn Stevens was my roommate for 2 years.
In 1979 I earned my Ph.D. in mathematics from Caltech, where I wrote
a thesis under Michael Aschbacher. My research formed part of the
classification of finite simple groups. My interest in finite groups
started at the Ross program, where I was perplexed by group theory. My
confusion resulted in an immediate determination to understand
everything about groups. I eventually learned to think deeply about
finite groups. It's fair to say that the Ross Program caused my
eventual mathematical research.
After Caltech I had an academic
position at the University of California, Santa Cruz for 3 years. David
Fried had a similar position at UCSC during the same time period.
In
1982 I left academia and moved to Silicon Valley where I have been a
software engineer for the last 20 years. My first computer job was at
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, where I worked on
combinatorial optimization of VLSI layout. I later managed software
development at a San Francisco company that is now part of Macromedia.
My most recent project was part of a video-on-demand system for Diva
Systems Corporation (www.divatv.com), a spin off of SRI International in
Menlo Park and David Sarnoff Labs in Princeton.
Tien Chiu
I know Prof. Ross likes to hear back from his old students--so an update
on my status: I'm moving on from leading a small group of engineering
project managers in ecommerce to project-managing a division at Liberate
Technologies, which is developing interactive TV solutions (mostly for
cable companies). I'll be doing an interesting mix of political and
technical analysis--basically making sure that the various technologies
don't trip over each other while building relationships inside and
outside the division to make sure everything gets done smoothly. Lately
I have been meshing my interest in group social dynamics with my
mathematical background to create a new "group theory"--trying to figure
out the basic structures that enable (human) groups to act efficiently,
and then apply them to designing organizations. It's endlessly
fascinating. Please tell Prof. Ross that the education I got at the
Ross Program has been one of the most valuable things I ever got in that
field; it taught me to go *looking* for patterns, rather than just
trying to solve the obvious, framed problems with the tools I was given.
It's been an incredibly powerful tool, and has given me a real "leg up"
in my profession. I really appreciate it, and still look back on the
program fondly. (I attended just one year, in '86.)
Ed Fein
Today (13 Oct 2000) is my last day with MicroStrategy, incorporated.
Next week I start with the RSW, a software startup in Waltham, MA.
Steve Goldstein
Hello,
I was in the Ross
program at OSU in the summer of 1971. Professor Ross had a deep and
simple impact on my thinking and my career. I read of his death today
and have been reflecting on my debt to him.
I studied math
(University of Wisconsin-Madison PhD 1988) and currently do work in
bioinformatics.
Steve Goldstein
608 South Ingersoll
Madison,
WI 53703
608-255-5695
Rada Higgins
I remember how Professor Ross used
to pace back and forth, from left to right, then from right to left, and
again from left to right, like a panther in captivity, when he lectured.
He immediately established a wave-length with his audience that held
one's attention as perfectly as the Pied Piper. He was chivalrous,
charming and courteous when he addressed his students. His motto was:
(which he drummed into us; taken from a statement by Gauss) "Think
deeply of simple things!" As a teenager, this motto and admonition
became my vow. And even long afterwards, at every bend, cross-road,
U-turn of my life, I remembered that motto. The motto seemed to imply
that there is nothing so simple and apparent in life or mathematics,
that it couldn't benefit from a deeper scrutiny or analysis. It implied
you shouldn't look too superficially at things, at ideas or even at
people. After all, everyone (and every concept) is a "star," (to put it
in the vernacular of pop musician, Sly Stone).
I always suspected it
was a very deep mind that impressed on me the motto: Think deeply of
simple things! The opportunity to study under Dr. Ross and to
participate in his summer training program was probably the most
singular privilege I have known in my academic life. It was an
unforgettable experience, involving unforgettable people. Like novices
preparing for a vocation, we ate, slept, talked math. We meditated on
the elegance of an ingenious proof or novelty of an audacious
conjecture. I soon learn to love this austere, rigorous and vigorous
environment dedicated to uncovering the laws, and beauty, of pure
reason.
Certainly, Dr. Ross shaped my destiny. Through him, I
received an NSF Fellowship to follow the graduate program in mathematics
at Ohio State University, from where I eventually acquired a doctorate.
I was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Howard University after
leaving OSU. Unfortunately, my mathematical career faltered, but my
interest and love for mathematics and "thinking deeply" has never
diminished. I have done quite an amount of scientific research, which
is, as yet, unexposed and undeveloped. I have survived the last twenty
years principally by operating a one-man business, single-handedly,
overseas.
Heath Hohwald
Dr. Ross,
I was a student in the
Ross Program in 1991 and 1992, which seems like a very long time ago. I
wanted to take a few minutes to let you know what I have done since
then, but more importantly to wish you a speedy recovery. It was with
great sadness that I learned you would not be directing next summer's
program, but I suppose all great things must come to an end.
After
two summers at the Ross program, I pursued mathematics throughout high
school and at Harvard, graduating with a degree in Applied Mathematics
in 1998. After graduation, I worked for two years in New York for a
Wall Street firm, earning too much money and not spending enough time
'Thinking deeply about simple things.' I quit my job in May 2000 and am
now pursuing a graduate degree in Computer Science, specializing in
Algorithm Analysis. Over the years I have often reflected on the skills
I learned during my two summers at the Ross program; learning to think
critically, question everything, and to reason properly are hard things
to teach but somehow you were able to do all of this. I wish you all
the best, and thanks having run such a valuable program for so many
years.
Glenn Iba
My brief bio (post OSU):
1974 SB Mathematics MIT
1979 SM Mathematics MIT
1980 Machine learning programmer at CMU
1981-1985 Taught computer science at Hampshire College
1985-1996 Machine learning research at GTE Labs
1997-1998 Software developer at Gensym
1998-present part-time free-lance development of puzzles and video games
2001-present Lecturer (math and computer science) in ESG at MIT
I still have very fond memories of my summers at OSU, and still
believe very strongly in "thinking deeply about simple things".
Coincidentally, I'm recently re-exploring some number theory, as a
result of reading "The Number Devil" with my daughter. I became
intrigued by the claim that every integer was the sum of at most 3
triangle numbers, but was unable to prove it myself. I felt less bad
when I learned that Euler also failed. Gauss apparently solved it as a
teenager, but the proof (equivalent to expressing 8M+3 as sum of 3
squares) looks decidedly non-trivial. If you know of any "elementary"
proofs of this result, I'd love a reference. I'm currently working to
digest Gauss' Disquisitions Arithmeticae (in English
translation), but it's heavy going.
Take care,
Glenn
Rocky Lee
i participated in the SSTP full-time
from 1983-85 (i was a junior counsellor in '85) and partially in 1986 (i
was on the canadian IMO team that summer). my career after college
(where i majored in biology) has basically been in business
(consulting/banking type of stuff) and next month [September 2000] i
will be joining the u.s. office of a british technology
commercialization/venture firm (they were responsible for
commercializing magnetic resonance imaging, disposable contact lenses,
the hovercraft, interferon, etc.). although i am not directly doing
anything that's math-related, the problem-solving skills that i learned
at SSTP have been invaluable. also, i cannot underestimate the
importance of the lifelong friendships that i was lucky enough to
establish over my four summers. i was quite delighted to hear from you
that dr. ross was still very active with the program.
Charles E. Leiserson
My eight weeks at the Ohio State program in
the summer of 1970 have left an indelible imprint on my life. I'm now a
professor of Computer Science at MIT and the author of a widely read
textbook on algorithms. My textbook and my research both reflect the
rigor I learned from you in those eight weeks. I'm looking forward to
the reunion next summer.
Phil Shapiro
I attended the program in the summer of 1973. My roomates were Stuart
Haber and Marty Weinstock. Our counselor was Ray Thomas Dexter
Pierrehumbert.
I got my BSEE and MSEE from MIT and then went into
industry as a circuit designer. Quite a few people from the program
attended MIT (Steve Piet, Bob Indik, Steve Weissberg, and others whose
names I can't remember).
I recently retired and have moved from
silicon valley to Thailand. Now I have a chance to go back and study
mathematics in peace and quiet (and without having my poor ego destroyed
by many brilliant people).
Location: bouncing around Southeast Asia
Jay Spitzen
In January 2000 I decided I had had my
fill of the hassles of working inside a large law firm, and I
transformed into a solo practitioner, in which capacity I work at home
for a small group of clients (doing the same thing: intellectual
property and antitrust law for high technology companies).
I am sorry to hear about Dr. Ross' stroke and slow recovery. Please convey to
him my best wishes. I will certainly place the dates of the forthcoming
reunion on my calendar but, realistically, I am unlikely to make it.
As for me, I got married almost 6 years ago, and my youngest child (of
2) is about to turn 3. She and her older sister are a delight but they
are also a fulltime project. My wife is a special education teacher
and, fulfilling a long standing goal, has just gotten admitted to a
doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin so, in a year or two, we
are likely to uproot ourselves for a new adventure (either in Madison or
at the University of Oregon, her other main alternative).
Ari Trachtenberg
I am currently a professor of
electrical and computer engineering at Boston University. I studied
math/cs at MIT as an undergrad. Thinking that it would be too hard to
get a job in math, I shifted to CS and did my masters and phd in coding
theory at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign. Now, once again,
I'm shifting a little more to the applied side with my current job.
http://people.bu.edu/trachten