Mathematics Faculty

Dale A. Brown - Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
(330) 263-2363 / dabrown@wooster.edu

B.A. Hiram 1967; M.S., Ph.D. Syracuse 1969, 1973.

Dale Allen Brown, professor of mathematical and computer sciences at The College of Wooster since 1987, specializes in neural networking, object-oriented programming, and parallel computation. He is also an expert in linear programming and block-design theory.

A graduate of Hiram College (1967), Brown earned his M.S. (1969) and his Ph.D. (1973) from Syracuse University. He has several publications to his credit, including “Computational Simulation of Composite Ply Micromechanics Using Artificial Neural Networks” in Microcomputers in Civil Engineering.

A member of several professional organizations, including the International Neural Network Society, the Association for Computing Machinery  (ACM), and the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, Brown was the recipient of Fellowships from the American Society for Engineering Education in 1989, 1990, and 1991. He was also the recipient of a Fellowship Award from the National Science Foundation in 1991.

Denise Byrnes - Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences
(330) 263-2489 / dbyrnes@wooster.edu

B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Ohio State 1985, 1987, 1992.

Denise D. Byrnes is an associate professor of mathematical sciences at The College of Wooster and a member of the faculty since 1991. She specializes in programming languages, distributed and parallel systems, software engineering, and computer graphics. She also has an interest in system design and specification as well as hard real-time systems.

Byrnes received her B.S. cum laude (1985), her M.S. (1987), and her Ph.D. (1992) from The Ohio State University. She is the co-author of “A Simulation Study of the Performance of Locking Algorithms for Distributed Database Systems,” which was published in Conference on Modeling and Simulation.

A member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the Association of Computing Machinery, and Phi Kappa Phi, Byrnes has several honors to her credit, including being named Outstanding Organic Chemistry Student at Ohio State.

Simon Gray - Associate Professor of Computer Science
(330) 263-2284 / sgray@wooster.edu

B.A., M.A. University of Virginia 1982, 1984; M.S. University of North Texas 1987; Ph.D. Kent State 1998.

Simon J.M. Gray is in his second stint as an associate professor of computer science at The College of Wooster, joining the faculty first in 1987 and again in 2003. His research interests include object-oriented programming and programming and cognition. He teaches courses at all levels of the computer science curriculum, as well as First-Year Seminar and Senior Independent Study.

Gray earned his B.A. (1982) and his M.A. (1984) at the University of Virginia. He also earned an M.S. at the University of North Texas (1987) and his Ph.D. at Kent State University (1998). He is the author of Data Structures in Java: From Abstract Data Types to the Java Collections Framework (Addison-Wesley). In addition, his work has been published in a variety of scholarly journals.

Gray is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Special Interest Group for Computer Science Education and Software Engineering.

Charles R. Hampton - Johnson Professor of Mathematical Sciences
(330) 263-2486 / hampton@wooster.edu

B.S. Michigan 1967; M.A., Ph.D. Wisconsin 1968, 1972.

Charles R. Hampton is the Johnson Professor of Mathematical Sciences at The College of Wooster and a member of the faculty since 1972. An expert in abstract algebra, the philosophy of mathematics, and the mathematics of legislative redistricting, Hampton has traveled the globe in pursuit of his study of mathematics.

A former chair of the department, Hampton received his B.S. from the University of Michigan (1967), and his M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1972) from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  

The author of “On the Semisimplicity of Group Rings of Solvable Groups" in Transactions of the A.M.S., "Practical Application of District Compactness,” in Political Geography, and a number of other articles, Hampton was a Fulbright-Hays Lecturer at Cuttington University College in Liberia, West Africa, in 1977-78. He also was a visiting scholar in the department of history and philosophy of science department of Wolfson College at Cambridge University in England in 1984-85 and again in the spring of 2003.

Hampton is a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), the Ohio Section of the MAA, the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi.

James Hartman - Professor of Mathematical Sciences
(330) 263-2239 / hartman@wooster.edu

B.S. Manchester 1975; M.S., Ph.D. Michigan State 1977, 1981.

James L. Hartman is a professor of mathematical sciences at The College of Wooster, where he joined the faculty in 1981. He has an extensive background in linear algebra, operator theory, probability and statistics, computer algebra systems, and Advanced Placement calculus, as well as a special interest in calculus reform, applied statistics, and invariant subspace problems.

Hartman received his B.S. from Manchester College (1975). He earned his M.S. (1977) and his Ph.D. (1981) from Michigan State University.

A member of the Mathematical Association of America, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Sigma Pi Sigma, Honorary Physics Society, and Phi Kappa Phi, Hartman is the author of a variety of articles, including “On a Conjecture of Gohberg and Rodman” in the Journal of Linear Algebra and Its Applications and “Studying Chaotic Systems Using Microcomputer Simulations and Lyapunov Exponents” in the American Journal of Physics. Hartman has also written two articles for AP Central concerning AP calculus, and he continues to review materials for AP Central.

Derek Newland - Visiting Assistant Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science
(330) 263-2554 / dnewland@wooster.edu

B.S. California, Davis 1999; M.A. California, San Diego 2003; California, San Diego.

Derek Newland is a visiting assistant professor of mathematics and computer science at The College of Wooster and a member of the faculty since 2005. He specializes in number theory. He recently completed his thesis involving Graph Zeta functions and co-authored a paper about the Selberg Trace Formula for regular graphs. He also has an interest in graph theory as well as algebra, combinatorics, and geometry.

Newland received his B.S. at UC Davis (1999), and his M.A. (2003), C.Phil (2003), and Ph.D. (2005) at the University of California San Diego. His publications include "The Contest Between the kernels in the Selberg trace formula for the (q+1)-regular tree" in Contemporary Mathematics.

Newland is affiliated with the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematics Association of America (MAA).

Pamela B. Pierce - Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences
(330) 263-2389 / ppierce@wooster.edu

B.A. Amherst 1985; M.Ed. Massachusetts 1986; M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D. Syracuse 1988, 1992, 1994.

An associate professor of mathematical sciences at The College of Wooster, Pamela B. Pierce specializes in the field of real analysis. A member of the faculty since 1994, she also has an interest in math education, specifically preparing elementary and secondary education students to teach mathematics.

Pierce's specialty in real analysis is the study of functions of generalized bounded variation. She has several research articles to her credit, which have appeared in such journals as The Real Analysis Exchange, The Journal of Mathematical Analysis and its Applications, American Mathematical Monthly, and the Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society.

Pierce is a member of the Mathematical Association of America, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She is a Fellow in Project NExT, a nationwide program for junior faculty in mathematics, and a member of Project Kaleidoscope’s Faculty for the 21st Century, a group of faculty leaders in mathematics and the sciences.

John Ramsay - Professor of Mathematical Sciences
(330) 263-2579 / jramsay@wooster.edu

B.A. Berea 1980; M.S., Ph.D. Wisconsin (Madison) 1984, 1987.

John Ramsay is a professor of mathematical sciences at The College of Wooster, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1987. He is an authority on calculus reform, AP Calculus, calculus instruction in Ireland, and undergraduate research. Other areas of interest and experience include operations research and management science.

Ramsay received his B.A. from Berea College (1980). He then went on to earn his M.S. (1984) and his Ph.D. (1987) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences, Ramsay is the founder, director, and faculty advisor for Wooster's Applied Mathematics Research Experience (AMRE), a program that gives students an opportunity to serve as consultants in the summer by researching and producing mathematical solutions for clients in business, industry, education, and government.

In addition, Ramsay was the project coordinator for Wooster's Curriculum Reform Project from 1989-94; served for the MAA in the area of Resources in Calculus; and has served as an exam reader/table leader since 1993 for Educational Testing Service AP Calculus exams.

Jennifer L. Roche - Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science
(330) 263-1971 / jenroche@wooster.edu

B.A. Boston College 1998; M.S., Ph.D. Virginia 2001, 2005.

Jennifer L. Roche is an assistant professor of mathematics at The College of Wooster where she joined the faculty in 2007.  Her areas of expertise include nonassociative algebras and matrix rings. 

Roche received her B.A. from Boston College (1998) before earning her M.S. (2001) and her Ph.D. (2005) from the University of Virginia with her dissertation “Radices and Matrix Rings.”  She was selected as the outstanding graduate teaching instructor in mathematics in 2005.

Prior to Wooster, she was a visiting assistant professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (2005-2007).  Roche is a Project NExT fellow (2005-2006) and a member of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.  She was an undergraduate participant (1996) in Carleton College’s Summer Mathematics Program for Women and a teaching assistant for the program is 2003.