Here are short biographies of the staff for SIMU 2000. 

Mónica Castro-Simmons, Program Coordinator
Mónica Castro Simmons was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and grew up in Naguabo, PR. She received her B.S. in Computational Mathematics (1999) from the University of Puerto Rico – Humacao. Her participation in the 1999 SIMU helped her to focus her mathematical interests and she plans to start graduate studies in mathematics in Fall 2000. In her non-academic life, she is a swimming instructor, a mathematics tutor, and loves swimming pools.

Jean-Carlos Cortissoz, Integration of Rational Functions Seminar Associate
Jean was born and raised in Colombia. He received his B.S. in mathematics from the University of Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), and he is now a first year Ph.D. student at Cornell University. His research interest are in Riemannian geometry and geometric analysis, but he also likes logic and topology (and the interaction between them). Jean loves literature and he enjoys singing vallenato (a kind of music from his homeland).

Abdul-Salam Jarrah, Computational Algebra Seminar Associate
Abdul-Salam Jarrah was born and raised in Jordan. He is a fourth year Ph.D. student in computational algebra at New Mexico State University.  His thesis will be on monomial ideals, with his research conducted under the direction of Prof. Reinhard Laubenbacher.  He received both his bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics at Yarmouk University in Jordan.  Abdul spends most of his time nerding out in his office or at the Physical Sciences Laboratory, where he conducts research in combinatorial dynamical systems.  He enjoys driving long distances and riding motorcycles.  Influenced by his advisor, he learned of the thrills in jumping out of airplanes.

Reinhard Laubenbacher, Computational Algebra Seminar Leader

Reinhard Laubenbacher, a native of Germany, received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1985, with a thesis in abstract algebra, after which he joined the mathematics faculty at New Mexico State University.  His current research interests are in computational algebra and algebraic geometry, and the analysis of information systems.  One of his important concerns is to increase the number of minority students that pursue a Ph.D. degree in mathematics.  Since coming to NMSU he has held visiting positions at Cornell University, the University of Trieste, Italy, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.  During the Fall of 1998, he was a member of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley.  In addition to his research in mathematics he also pursues research in the history of mathematics and its use in teaching.  Most recently he co-authored a book on the historical development of several areas of mathematics.  He is also involved in a number of education projects, most importantly the use of cryptography as a unifying teaching tool in the high school and middle school curriculum.  (Visit his home page for more information.)  In his spare time he hikes and motorcycles around the Southwest, unless he is off somewhere jumping out of airplanes. 

Dagan Karp, Integration of Rational Functions Seminar Associate

Dagan Karp graduated from Tulane University in 1999 with a double major in mathematics and physics.  He is now a first year Ph.D. student in mathematics at Tulane, and is currently interested in algebraic topology.  His interest in this field was spawned by James Rogers in a National Science Foundation (NSF) REU program at Tulane.  Aside from mathematics, Dagan enjoys mathematical physics, philosophy, logic, and  recreationally he enjoys urban sociology in the forums of political activism and tutoring inner-city New Orleans youths in mathematics.  To relax, he skateboards and tries to find new ways to cook tofu.

Herbert A. Medina, Co-Director 

Herbert A. Medina was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. He received his B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science (1985) from UCLA, and his Ph.D. in Mathematics (1992) from UC Berkeley.  He is currently Associate Professor of Mathematics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.  His research interests center on functional analysis, harmonic analysis, ergodic theory, and wavelets.  One of his other passions is working on projects that aim to increase the participation of historically underrepresented groups in mathematics and the sciences. His hobbies include running, biking, the stock market, history (esp. American and Latin American), Latin American and Chicano literature, and Cuban music. 

Victor Hugo Moll Becker, Integration of Rational Functions Seminar Leader

Victor Hugo Moll Becker was born in Santiago, Chile.  His interest in Mathematics were observed by his elementary school teachers that encourage him to pursue a career in Engineering.  After realizing that he was not able to put wires together, he became a Mathematics major at Universidad Santa Maria in Valparaiso.  He arrived in the US in 1980 to study Mathematics at the Courant Institute, New York University.  His advisor was Henry P. McKean.  At the Courant Institute he met his (future) wife Lisa J. Fauci and, after a brief Postdoctoral work at Temple University,  they joined the Department of Mathematics at Tulane University in 1986.  They have two sons: Alexander (10) and Stefan (6).

Rebecca Pablo, Computational Algebra Seminar Associate
Rebecca is pursuing her Ph.D. in computational algebra at New Mexico State University. She received her B.S. in mathematics from  Loyola Marymount University, her home away from home, and her M.A. in mathematics from UC Berkeley.  She was a Seminar Associate for the Gröbner bases seminar in the 1999 SIMU.  Rebecca was born and raised in Guam, one of the islands, like Puerto Rico, that was ceded by Spain to the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War. She enjoys playing classical and jazz piano whenever there’s an opportunity and loves listening to Euro-pop groups like Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys. She spends a good portion of her free time in the kitchen, where she developed a passion for creating culinary delights for friends and family to enjoy.

Olgamary Rivera-Marrero, Assistant Program Coordinator
Olgamary Rivera-Marrero was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and grew up in Corozal, PR.  She received her B.S. in Computational Mathematics (1999) from the University of Puerto Rico – Humacao.  She plans to start graduate studies in mathematics education sometime in the near future.  In her non-academic life, she is a president of  Leo Club - Humacao, a mathematics tutor, and loves the beach.

 

Ivelisse Rubio, Co-Director
Ivelisse M. Rubio was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She received her B.S. (1984) and M.S. (1988) in Mathematics from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras and her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University in January 1998. Ive is currently Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao. Her research interests are Gröbner bases and its applications, in particular applications to error-correcting codes. She loves the beach and Afro-Caribbean music.

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