The Department of Mathematical Sciences has hired six new faculty who will assist with the department's teaching mission. Two tenure-track faculty will teach undergraduate and graduate courses while also conducting cutting-edge research. Six continuing-track faculty will primarily teach undergraduate courses.

Tenure-Track Faculty

Ke Chen joined UD as an assistant professor in 2024. He is also an affiliated member of the Data Science Institute. Ke earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. Before joining UD, he held positions as an R.H. Bing Instructor at the University of Texas at Austin and as a Brin Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Maryland.

Ke’s primary research interests lie in Scientific Machine Learning (SciML) for partial differential equation (PDE) inverse problems, with a focus on applications in biomedical imaging. These problems are typically governed by physical equations, aiming to reconstruct internal spatial information from limited boundary measurements. They present significant computational challenges due to their nonlinear and ill-posed nature. Ke’s recent work focuses on leveraging deep learning algorithms and generative models to address these challenges, exploring innovative methods that integrate the rigor of physics with the flexibility of data-driven machine learning.

Looking ahead, Ke is passionate about pushing the boundaries of what mathematics and machine learning can achieve together. He is excited to contribute to breakthroughs that have the potential to make a profound impact on society.

Shuxing Li was born in Kunming, China. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Zhejiang University in 2010, and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the same institution in 2016, under the supervision of Gennian Ge and Tao Feng. During his graduate studies, Shuxing was privileged to hold a research assistantship at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, under the mentorship of Cunsheng Ding and Maosheng Xiong.

He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, supervised by Jonathan Jedwab. And later, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Mathematics, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, hosted by Alexander Pott. He then returned to Simon Fraser University as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mathematics, supported by the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and Jonathan Jedwab. Since September 2023, Shuxing has been an assistant professor at UD.

Shuxing’s research focuses on combinatorics, the study of discrete structures with applications in both theory and practice. His primary research goal is to explore various perspectives and employ precise mathematical tools to uncover underlying patterns within diverse discrete structures, particularly those exhibiting strong intrinsic symmetry. His work spans a range of elegant discrete structures and extends to several interconnected fields, including combinatorial design theory, algebraic coding theory, finite geometry, and the mathematics of communication.

In recognition of his research contributions, Shuxing was awarded the 2018 Kirkman Medal by the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications. He serves as an editorial board member for the journals Designs, Codes and Cryptography and Journal of Combinatorial Designs.

Continuing-Track Faculty

Since 2022, the department has been fortunate to hire several new continuing-track faculty. These faculty focus primarily on the department’s undergraduate teaching mission.

Mihai Alboiu obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Toronto in 2021. His area of research was C*-algebras. During his Ph.D. he gravitated more toward teaching and, upon graduation, joined the Department of Mathematics at Yale University on a three-year lecturership (teaching postdoc). This past summer, he joined UD as an assistant professor. He is very passionate about teaching. This year he is teaching Math 115 (Precalculus) and Math 349 (Linear Algebra).

Yael Davidov earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2016 and her Ph.D. in mathematics from Rutgers University in 2023. She then joined UD as an assistant professor and is part of the Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory team. Her research area is in algebra and arithmetic geometry studying central simple algebras and Galois extensions over a variety of fields with interesting geometry. Since joining UD, Yael has taught MATH 115, 231/232 (Integrated Calculus IA/B) and 210 (Discrete Mathematics I). She is passionate about teaching and feels a deep commitment to supporting her students as they work to achieve their academic goals. 

Amanda Seiwell is a UD alumna of the Department of Mathematical Sciences — she graduated with a bachelor's in mathematics education in 2017. She continued her studies at Western Michigan University, where she earned a master's in mathematics education. Upon completion of her degree, she returned to UD, first as a temporary instructor, where she primarily taught MSLL courses and worked with MSLL faculty to improve introductory mathematics courses. Recently, she was hired as a continuing track instructor to work within the Secondary Mathematics Education program, teaching content and methods courses as well as managing program accreditation. Her interests include improving introductory mathematics courses as well as mathematics content courses for pre-service teachers.

Rajinda Wickrama is an assistant professor at UD. Before transitioning to his current role, he joined UD as a temporary assistant professor. Rajinda also worked as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa. He earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematical and computational sciences from the University of Iowa, where his research focused on mathematical finance. Prior to that, he received his master’s in mathematics from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor of science in mathematical finance from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.