San Diego State University

Jan 28, 2025

2022/2023 University Catalog

2022/2023 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Mathematics

Undergraduate Information
Graduate Information

OFFICE: Geology/Mathematics/Computer Science 413
TELEPHONE: 619-594-6191

Faculty

Chair: O’Sullivan, Michael E. Professor of Mathematics (B.A., Reed College; M.S., Portland State University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)

Associate Chairs:

Blomgren, Peter V., Professor of Mathematics (M.Sc., The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles)

Dunster, T. Marc, Professor of Mathematics (B.S., University of Reading; Ph.D., University of Bristol)

Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty:

Blomgren, Peter V., Professor of Mathematics (M.Sc., The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles)

Carretero, Ricardo, Professor of Mathematics (B.Sc., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico; Ph.D., University of London)

Castillo, José E., Professor of Mathematics (B.S., Universidad Central de Venezuela, Venezuela; M.A., University of Texas at Austin; Ph.D., University of New Mexico)

Dunster, T. Marc, Professor of Mathematics (B.S., University of Reading; Ph.D., University of Bristol)

Interlando, J. Carmelo, College of Sciences Associate Dean; Professor of Mathematics (B.S., Ph.D., University of Campinas, Brazil; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame.)

Lobato, Joanne E., Professor of Mathematics, Coordinator for Ph.D. Program (B.S., St. Cloud State University; M.A., San Diego State University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)

Mahaffy, Joseph M., Professor of Mathematics (B.S., University of Nebraska; Sc.M., Ph.D., Brown University)

Nickerson, Susan D., Associate Professor of Mathematics, Coordinator for Ph.D. Program (B.S., Eastern Nazarene College; M.A., University of California, San Diego; Ph.D., San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego)

Palacios, Antonio, Professor of Mathematics (B.S., La Salle University; M.N.S., M.S., Ph.D., Arizona State University)

Ponomarenko, Vadim, Professor of Mathematics (B.A., University of Michigan; M.S., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Rasmussen, Chris L., Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.A., Ph.D., University of Maryland)

Shen, Samuel S.P., Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Mathematics (B.Sc., Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China; M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Gilles, Jerome E., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.A., Ph.D., École Normale Supérieure, France)

Curtis, Christopher W., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., Illinois Institute of Technology; Ph.D., University of Washington)

O’Neill, Christopher, Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., B.A., San Francisco State University; Ph.D., Duke University)

Pilgrim, Mary E., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Colorado State University)

Reinholz, Daniel L., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S., Colorado State University, Fort Collins; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)

Shen, Bo-Wen, Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S., National Central University, Taiwan; Ph.D., North Carolina State University)

Vaidya, Naveen K., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S., Tribhuvan University, Nepal; Ph.D., York University, Canada)

Zahner, William C., Associate Professor of Mathematics (B.A., Boston College; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz)

George, Uduak, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Ph.D., University of Sussex, UK)

Luque Santolaria, Antoni, Assistant Professor of Mathematics (B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)

Qin, Huan, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, SDSU Imperial Valley (B.S., M.S., Ph.D., University of Iowa)

Tang, Tingting, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, SDSU Imperial Valley (B.S., East China University of Science and Technology; M.S., Ph.D., University of Louisiana at Lafayette)

Emeritus:

Bowers, Janet S., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mathematics

Carlson, David H., Ph.D., 1982-2002, Professor of Mathematics

Deaton, Edmund I., Ph.D., 1960-1992, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Elwin, John D., Ph.D., 1969-2004, Professor of Mathematics

Garrison, Betty B., Ph.D., 1962-1996, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Geveci, Tunc, Ph.D., 1985-2013, Professor of Mathematics

Grone, Robert D., Ph.D., 1986-2010, Professor of Mathematics

Hager, Richard A., Ph.D., 1967-2000, Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Hintzman, William R., Ph.D., 1969-2000, Associate Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Hui, Stefen Y., Ph.D., 1988-2015, Professor of Mathematics

Kirschvink, Stephen J., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mathematics

Lesley, F. David, Ph.D., 1970-2006, Professor of Mathematics

Lutz, Donald A., Ph.D., 1986-2004, Professor of Mathematics

Marcus, Bernard, Ph.D., 1966-1996, Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences

McLeod, Douglas B., Ph.D., 1972-2001, Professor of Mathematics

Nemirovsky, Richardo B., Ph.D., 2005-2016, Professor of Mathematics

Noble, Helen A., M.S., 1984-2019, Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics

Nower, Leon, Ph.D., 1963-1990, Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Pierce, Stephen J., Ph.D., 1984-2004, Professor of Mathematics

Salamon, Peter, Ph.D., 1980-2015, Professor of Mathematics

Saltz, Daniel, Ph.D., 1959-1995, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Short, Donald R., Ph.D.,1969-2001, Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Smith, Newton B., Ph.D., 1954-1986, Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Sowder, Judith T., Ph.D., 1986-2000, Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Sowder, Larry K., Ph.D., 1986-2003, Professor of Mathematics

Thompson, Patrick W., Ed.D., 1990-1999, Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Verzi, Diana, Ph.D., 2001-2017, Professor of Mathematics, SDSU Imperial Valley

Undergraduate Information

The Majors

Mathematics is the language and instrument for the sciences and technology. It is concerned with a wide range of diverse problems from developing techniques to model real world applications and designing efficient methods for calculating their solutions, to creating new branches of mathematics and theories for as yet unsolved problems. Some students find mathematics stimulating because of its many and varied applications, while others are fascinated and attracted to it for the beauty of its intrinsic order, structure, and form.

Because of its broad scope, degrees in mathematics can prepare students for many different careers and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers a variety of such degrees and emphases to provide students with several blends and specialties according to their interests and goals.

Graduates with a mathematics major have many options for either careers in applications, for further study in graduate school, or for teaching. Mathematics majors are important because their training involves quantitative abilities and critical reasoning that many potential employers can utilize. With a minor in an area of applications, graduates are suited for further graduate study in many areas that heavily depend upon mathematical methods and techniques. Graduates with an interest in the more theoretical aspects of mathematics are sought after in many diverse graduate programs from applied and pure mathematics to computer and computational sciences and statistics. Careers in teaching include positions in secondary schools, for which a teaching credential is additionally required, teaching in two year colleges, for which a master’s degree is required, and teaching at the university level, which requires a doctorate degree and involves research and creation of new mathematics.

Impacted Program

The mathematics major and emphases are impacted programs. To be admitted to the mathematics major or an emphasis, students must meet the following criteria:

Complete preparation for the major. Refer to the individual program for specific impaction criteria;
Complete a minimum of 60 transferable semester units;
Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.
For the mathematics major with an emphasis in integrated teacher education program (ITEP-SS) students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.67.

To complete the major, students must fulfill the degree requirements for the major described in the catalog in effect at the time they are accepted into the premajor at SDSU (assuming continuous enrollment).

Students should consult their degree audits in WebPortal to determine how to make progress on their degree requirements.

Mathematics Placement Assessments

MATH 140 is a prerequisite for MATH 141 , and MATH 141 is a prerequisite for both MATH 150 and MATH 124 . The Department Mathematics Placement Assessment enables students to skip the prerequisite courses and place directly into MATH 141 , MATH 124 or MATH 150 . Detailed information is available at the SDSU Testing Office website.

Students enrolling in MATH 312 and MATH 313 must pass the Liberal Studies Mathematics Diagnostic.

Graduate Information

OFFICE: Geology/Mathematics/Computer Science 413
TELEPHONE: 619-594-6191

Associateships

Graduate teaching associateships in mathematics are available to a limited number of qualified students. Application information is available on the department website and may also be obtained from the department coordinator.

General Information

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers graduate study leading to the Master of Arts degree in mathematics, the Master of Arts degree for teaching service with a concentration in mathematics, the Master of Science degree in applied mathematics, the Master of Science degree in applied mathematics with a concentration in mathematical theory of communications systems, and the Master of Science degree in applied mathematics with a concentration in dynamical systems. The department also offers the Master of Science degree in statistics and the Master of Science degree in statistics with a concentration in biostatistics (see the Statistics section of this bulletin for a description of the statistics program and courses).

Faculty active in research direct theses and research projects in most general areas of the mathematical sciences: in complex analysis, differential equations, number theory, algebra, numerical analysis; in cognitive science, computer education and problem solving within mathematics education; in climate mathematics, computational mathematics, dynamical systems, mathematics of communication, mathematical physics, modeling and optimization within applied mathematics.

Opportunities for research in mathematics education are available through research facilities in the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education.

The department hires qualified graduate students as teaching associates. These positions serve as an important stepping stone on the path to a career in the teaching of mathematics at various levels.

Admission to Graduate Study

All students must satisfy the general requirements for admission to the university with classified graduate standing, as described in Admission and Registration .

Students applying for admission should electronically submit the university application available at http://www.calstate.edu/apply along with the application fee.

All applicants must submit admissions materials to SDSU Graduate Admissions.

Graduate Admissions

The following materials should be submitted as a complete package directly to:

Graduate Admissions
Enrollment Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7416

Official transcripts (in sealed envelopes) from all postsecondary institutions attended;

NOTE:
- Students who attended SDSU need only submit transcripts for work completed since last attendance.
- Students with international coursework must submit both the official transcript and proof of degree. If documents are in a language other than English, they must be accompanied by a certified English translation.
GRE scores (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682);
English language score, if medium of instruction was in a language other than English (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682).