Chair, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Mathematics
Sally Cockburn
Among Sally Cockburn’s teaching interests are set theory and the philosophical foundations of mathematics.
Mathematics and Statistics
The curriculum delves deeply into a wide range of the many and varied branches of mathematics. As a math lover at Hamilton, you’ll find yourself congregating with like-minded peers, talking shop outside your professors’ offices in CJ. You’ll learn within a curriculum that delves deeply into the many branches of math and take courses that foster deductive reasoning, persuasive writing and analytical and quantitative problem-solving.
About the Major
Students explore both the abstract, theoretical aspects of math and its applications to a variety of topics. Working closely with professors, many students produce work that they go on to present at a professional conference. Mathematics is both a popular major and a crucial part of Hamilton’s broader liberal arts curriculum. Statistics is a minor within the department.
I don’t live and breathe what I majored in. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that my Hamilton education was integral in preparing me to do all of the types of things I do today…Hamilton prepared me in so much as it taught me to think.
Mark Kasdorf — math major
Ancient thinkers recognized that mathematics was the language of the natural world. Today we recognize that it is also the language of science and social science, of business, commerce and industry, even of art and design. Doing math can be as simple as executing a computer search and as momentous as planning a mass evacuation or tracing a disease epidemic, and it assumes ever-greater importance in our lives.
Careers After Hamilton
- Financial Analyst, The New York Times
- Resident Physician, Westchester Medical Center
- Business Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
- Professor of Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University
- Software Engineer, Mitre Corp.
- Legal Analyst, Department of Justice
- Data Miner/Predictive Modeler, Verizon Communications
- Math Teacher, Midlakes High School
Meet Our Faculty
the Samuel F. Pratt Professor of Mathematics
Debra Boutin
Debra Boutin's mathematical interests include graph theory, geometric graph theory and group theory.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Clark Bowman
Clark Bowman’s favorite courses to teach have been in computational probability and statistics.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Jose Ceniceros
Jose Ceniceros' doctoral research focused on the classification of transverse knots in contact 3-manifolds.
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Andrew Dykstra
Andrew Dykstra's research is in dynamical systems. He is especially interested in symbolic dynamics and ergodic theory.
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Courtney Gibbons
Courtney Gibbons has developed a research program involving undergraduates in her work in commutative algebra.
Marjorie and Robert W. McEwen Professor of Mathematics
Robert Kantrowitz
Robert Kantrowitz ’82 conducts research in mathematical analysis.
Associate Professor of Statistics
Chinthaka Kuruwita
Chinthaka Kuruwita's research is focused on new regression models.
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Michelle LeMasurier
Michelle LeMasurier received an excellence in teaching award.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Tural Sadigov
Tural Sadigov’s interests include probability, statistics, and machine learning.
Professor of Mathematics Emeritus (retired)
Richard Bedient
Richard Bedient's interests are low dimensional topology, knot theory, fractal geometry and chaos theory.
the Samuel F. Pratt Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Emeritus (retired)
Timothy Kelly
Timothy Kelly received two awards for teaching from Hamilton.
the Samuel F. Pratt Professor of Mathematics Emeritus
Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield’s areas of expertise include lattice-ordered fields, rings and groups, vector lattices and ordered topological spaces.
A Sampling of Courses
Linear Algebra 224FS
An introduction to linear algebra: matrices and determinants, vector spaces, linear transformations, linear systems and eigenvalues; mathematical and physical applications. Writing-intensive. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning.
View All CoursesTopology 304S
An introduction to point set topology, a foundational topic for much of modern mathematics. We will cover topological spaces, separation axioms, quotient spaces, compactness, connectedness, path connectedness, and homotopy. In the last part of the course we will cover the fundamental group, the most basic algebraic topological invariant. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning. Oral Presentations.
View All CoursesGraph Theory 322S
An introduction to the theory and applications of graph theory. Topics include: trees; connectivity; Eulerian and Hamiltonian graphs; vertex-, edge- and map-colorings; digraphs; tournaments; matching theory; planarity and Ramsey numbers. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning.
View All CoursesPartial Differential Equations 337S
Theory and applications of partial differential equations. Topics include separation of variables, Fourier series and transforms, and the Laplace, heat and wave equations. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning.
View All CoursesStatistical Theory and Computation 352S
Study of the mathematical theory underlying classical and modern techniques in statistics, including implementation and visualization in the statistical programming language R. Topics include linear models and regression, randomization and bootstrap, Monte Carlo methods and sampling, Bayesian statistics, and topics in applied statistical modeling. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning.
View All CoursesNumber Theory and Applications 361S
Number theory is the study of the properties of the positive integers. Topics include divisibility, congruences, quadratic reciprocity, numerical functions, Diophantine equations, continued fractions, distribution of primes. Applications will include cryptography, the practice of encrypting and decrypting messages, and cryptanalysis, the practice of developing secure encryption and decryption protocols and probing them for possible flaws. Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning.
View All CoursesToday and Tomorrow
