2023 Foundation Professor Christopher Herald
Nearing 25 years at the University of Nevada, Reno, Chris Herald has seen a great deal of change in his department, including growth in his research in differential topology and three-dimensional manifolds.
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“We’ve certainly grown in size and in the scope of our teaching and research mission,” said Herald. “When I joined as an assistant professor it was just a Department of Mathematics whose offerings stopped at the masters level. We’re now a Department of Mathematics and Statistics offering doctoral level education across these areas.”
Herald’s research career has been mainly in pure mathematics, but he’s also worked with researchers in other disciplines such as engineering and climate science. He is particularly excited that growth of the graduate program has allowed him to teach more advanced courses related to his research in differential topology and three-dimensional manifolds.
“Surfaces of solid objects are examples of two-dimensional manifolds that we’re used to seeing,” Herald said, adding that three-dimensional manifolds are similar spaces but with one more degree of freedom. “For example, with a robotic mechanism, there are a bunch of parts but there are constraints on how they can move. If the constraints limit the motion to three degrees of freedom, then the mechanisms configurations make up a three-dimensional manifold.”
Herald says that sharing his research results and collaborating with other mathematicians is vital to contributing to the discipline and he is eager to use his Foundation Professor award funding to continue this tradition of excellence on our campus.
“What makes really good mathematics is when you figure out how to take the techniques you understand and make some progress, but also connect it to the fabric of mathematics,” Herald said, noting that this requires him to focus on connecting his own research with the latest discoveries of other researchers. “This award will provide funding to travel and bring speakers to the University. That will be very helpful for my own research. It’ll also be helpful for the other mathematicians working in related areas in our department.”