Dean to explore mathematical puzzles and pearls Feb. 23

"Layers, Lines, and Boxes: Some Mathematical Puzzles and Pearls" will be the topic when Professor of Mathematics Alice Dean delivers the 2011 Edwin M. Moseley Faculty Research Lecture at Skidmore College. 

Free and open to the public, the lecture is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Selection as the Moseley Lecturer is the highest honor the Skidmore faculty can confer upon a colleague, who is invited to describe his or her research and share significant findings.

Said Dean, "Most people's perceptions of mathematics are formed early, and often negatively, in high school and perhaps the first year or two of college. But mathematics comprises much more than algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. I have had a long career as a mathematician, doing research in the very different field of graph theory, which is full of fun, visual, easy-to-state (but often hard-to-solve) problems and results - the puzzles and pearls of the title. In this talk I'll look at some of the fascinating puzzles and pearls that have led me through a life as a mathematician and which I hope will change some people's perceptions of mathematics in a positive way."

In nearly 25 years at Skidmore, Dean has been devoted to teaching mathematics and computer science, and focused on incorporating ideas and technologies that enhance student learning and engagement. Her teaching is influenced by her research interests, which include graph theory and computational geometry.

According to Dean, graph theory can help solve any puzzle that involves models with dots that are connected by lines. As an example, Dean shared a "pearl" that started as a puzzle: a question about maps. She explained that graph theory is integral to determining just how many colors are needed in a map to ensure that adjacent states have different colors. Using a map of the 48 adjacent states of the continental U.S., Dean said, "No matter how complicated the map, you need just four colors. This is one of the more famous pearls, and it was solved in 1976."

The Bronx native fell in love with math in junior high school, and in college she discovered topology, the mathematical study of properties preserved under deformations, twistings, and stretchings of objects. She earned a B.A. degree in mathematics magna cum laude at the City University of New York, and a master's and doctoral degree in mathematics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

In her first teaching position, at Smith College, Dean was introduced to graph theory, the study of networks with complexes of nodes and connecting lines. She became fascinated with the beauty of the mathematical theory, as well as its practical applications, and the subject soon became the central focus of her scholarship.

Interviewed by Skidmore's Scope magazine in 2007, Dean said, "Graph theory is very social. And maybe in part because it's fairly new, it has more women than some areas of math." Fostering the professional development of female mathematicians is important for Dean, who was a principal investigator on a recent National Science Foundation-supported study on recruiting and retaining female professors in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math?the STEM disciplines. In 2008 Skidmore and Union colleges shared a $500,000 NSF grant for the multi-year study.

Dean also believes it is essential to help students strengthen their research abilities. "I have always taught at liberal arts colleges," she said. "I've seen students get excited at being able to do something new." Her recent research with undergraduates at Skidmore and elsewhere has led to new scholarship and the development of papers for publication. 

Her publications include more than 20 research articles and a programming textbook that she co-wrote with her husband, Gove Effinger, with whom she shares a teaching appointment at Skidmore.