SOU Presents 2015 Kieval Lecture Series

(Ashland, Ore.) —The Harry S. Kieval Lectures Series continues at Southern Oregon University this month with a presentation by University of Oregon mathematics professor Dr. Jonathon Brundan.
Dr. Brundan, who joined UO in 1997 and has authored more than 40 research articles, will provide a lecture tailored to the general public on Friday, May 29, at 3:30 p.m. in Taylor Hall on SOU’s main campus in Ashland.
The presentation, “Counting Tilings Using Determinants” will explore methods for using graph theory and linear algebra to figure out how many different ways one might tile around an 8-inch by 8-inch board using 2-inch by 1-inch tiles.
“We people are sometimes turned off by presentations like this because they assume it will be over their head or uninteresting,” said Dr. Kemble Yates, professor of mathematics at SOU, “but Dr. Brundan is a great presenter and this lecture is specifically designed for the general public. No prior knowledge of the subjects will be necessary in order to attendees to appreciate the material, have a good time, and learn something new.”
The Harry S. Kieval Lecture Series was endowed in the early 1980s by a generous gift from the late Harry S. Kieval. The SOU Mathematics Department invites speakers to address broad, popular aspects of mathematics with the goal of attracting undergraduate students and the general public to the lectures.
More information is available at https://bit.ly/1ExHKPo.
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About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.
About Dr. Jonathon Brundan
Dr. Jonathon Brundan joined University of Oregon faculty in 1997, and has been there since, promoted to full Professor in 2008. He received his PhD in Mathematics from the University of London’s Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, in 1996. Dr. Brundan’s research interests include: representation theory of Lie algebras, algebraic groups and quantum groups, algebraic combinatorics, modular representation theory of finite groups, and invariant theory. His distinguished career includes authoring more than 40 research articles, delivering more than 50 invited presentations at conferences and universities, serving on the editorial board for the Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics and AMS’ Representation Theory, being the dissertation advisor for five doctoral students, and winning multiple outstanding teaching awards.