Department of Mathematics and Statistics Newsletter 2015 Newsletter | Page 5

Faculty highlights
Andras Bezdek (pictured) and
Gina Jackson, a lecturer in the
department of Mathematics
and Statistics, participated in
the 10-day Summer Course
(Re)design Seminar (June
2015) to assist and prepare
faculty for teaching and
supporting student success in
Auburn’s engaged learning
environments. Bezdek also
delivered a plenary talk at the conference Intuitive
Geometry, László Fejes Tóth Centennial, held at the
Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics in Budapest
in June 2015, and was the local organizer of the
Mathematical Association of America Alabama
State Dinner in February 2014 . 
Ash Abebe was promoted to
professor in fall 2015. He is
the co-primary investigator
of a $339,976 National Science
Foundation grant titled,
“Infusing Data-Enabled Active
Learning in Mathematics and
Statistics Courses 2014-2017.”
The primary investigator is
alumnus Carl Pettis (’06),
associate professor and
chair of the Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science at Alabama State University.
Abebe was also an invited keynote speaker at the
Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association
Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, in
November 2013
Nedret Billor received the
2014 Outstanding Teacher
of Graduate Students
Award and the 2014 Dr.
Marie Kraska Award for
Excellence in Teaching, both
given by the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics.
She was promoted to
professor in fall 2013.

Guanqun Cao was awarded
a Simons Travel Grant in
the amount of $35,000 over
a five-year period starting
September 2015

Yanzhao Cao delivered
a keynote talk at the
9th International
Conference on
Computational at the
National University of
Singapore in January 2015.

Narendra Govil completed
the book, Progress in
Approximation Theory
and Applicable Complex
Analysis - In the Memory
of Q. I. Rahman, which
has been accepted by
Springer for publication
in 2016 under the series
Springer Optimization and
its Applications (edited by
N. K. Govil, Ram Mohapatra, M. A. Qazi, and
G. Schmeisser). He was a plenary speaker at
the 10th International Symposium of Geometric
Function Theory and Applications, organized
by the University of Oradea, Faculty of Sciences,
Department of Mathematics and Computer
Science, and held in Băile Felix Spa, Romania,
in August 2014. He was also invited to present
a plenary talk at the International Conference
on Recent Trends in Mathematical Analysis and
Applications in IIT Roorkee, India, in December
2014. Govil serves on the editorial board of the
International Journal of Analysis and Applications.

5