It is important for a student who leaves Kent with a Ph.D. to enlarge their "tool kit."
Questions & Answers
Why did you decide to pursue your field of research?
I like mathematics.
What would you tell a student at the beginning of their academic career?
It is important for a student who leaves Kent with a Ph.D. to enlarge their "tool kit".
Tell us a little about your research:
My general area is Computational Mathematics. Within this area I have focused on image restoration and more recently network analysis.
What are you hoping to accomplish?
The aim of my work is to gain understanding, as well as to develop methods that deliver more accurate results in less computing time than available ones.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
When I had a postdoc, it was suggested to me not to continue to work on problems related to my Ph.D. thesis, but to look at other problems.
Who is someone you admire, and why?
I have met many people over the years who have been very important to me because of their friendship and their work. The one person who I would single out is Bill Gragg, who was a full professor at the department where I had my first tenure track position. He was like a second Ph.D. advisor. He helped me to start to work on problems that were very different from the problems I worked on for my Ph.D.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Music, theaters, movies.
What does it mean to you to be included in the top 2% in your field?
I suppose it is some kind of recognition.