New Faces in Mathematical Sciences

December 15, 2015

We have several new members of the Mathematical Sciences Department, and a few familiar faces have taken on new roles in the department.

Our new Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies, Eliza Gallagher, is in her seventh year as a lecturer at Clemson University. Before coming to Clemson, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at California State University, Chico. Her mathematical research in graduate school at NCSU was in topological algebra, specifically linearly compact topological rings. For the past sixteen or so years, though, her research interests have been in mathematics education and professional development for teachers. She is particularly interested in developing materials for helping people make the transition from being a student of mathematics to being an effective teacher of mathematics.

Veronica (Connie) McClain is our newest member of our staff. She comes to us with 15+ years of Accounting, Bookkeeping and Property Management experience. Connie enjoys cooking, crafts and spending time with her husband, Billy, and her 2 children, Michalia and Tessa.
Judith McKnew assumed the position of Coordinator of Instruction in May of this year. During her twelve years with the MATH department she has coordinated MATH 2070 and MATH 1010, and taught courses in quantitative literacy, business calculus and statistics. Prior to joining the Department she taught OR and STAT in the Department of Management. She earned a BS in Construction Science, an MS in Industrial Management and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, all from Clemson University. Her checkered past includes working construction (really) and for the Department of Energy. She and Mark have five children, four cats, three dogs and thirteen chickens. She likes to cook, garden and read.

Dr. Jason W. Osborne is Clemson’s recently installed Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Osborne’s home department is Mathematical Sciences. He came to Clemson from the University of Louisville, where he chaired the Educational and Counseling Psychology department, and was founding co-director of the Center for Educational Research, Policy, and Evaluation. He is author of over 70 articles, many on best practices in quantitative methods, and several books. His work has been cited over 9000 times according to Google Scholar. Dr. Osborne’s Ph.D. was in educational psychology. He is an ASA-accredited professional statistician, and looks forward to getting to know the members of his new department.

Yuyuan “Lance” Ouyang was born in Hunan Province of China. He received his PhD from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Florida in 2013. Prior to joining Clemson, he was a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida, working at the Research and Engineering Education Facility (UF-REEF) at Shalimar, Florida. His research focus is on algorithm design and performance analysis of large-scale nonlinear optimization, and their applications in machine learning and medical imaging. Entering the big data era, there are many demands on efficient algorithms for solving high-dimensional models, and he is excited for the challenges ahead on large-scale optimization.

Brook Russell joins the Applied Statistics subfaculty as an Assistant Professor after recently completing his PhD in Statistics from Colorado State University. His research interests include multivariate extreme value methods, and ecological and environmental applications. He and his wife are the proud parents of two children (ages 5 and 7) and a Bernese Mountain dog. When not working, Brook enjoys spending time with his family and riding his bikes on roads and trails.

Sean Sather-Wagstaff is a new Associate Professor in the Algebra and Discrete Mathematics subfaculty. His research is in combinatorial and homological commutative algebra. He earned his PhD from the University of Utah in 2000, and was most recently a faculty member at North Dakota State University. In his free time, Sean enjoys spending time with his wife, Joy, listening to music, reading, and running.

Alison Ward is the new Student Services Coordinator for the Mathematical Sciences Department as of July 1st, 2015. She and her family are new to the Clemson area, having just moved to Clemson in March of 2015. Most recently they lived in Greenville, NC where she worked for East Carolina University as a Grant Manager for the Walter and Marie Williams STEPP Program and College STAR. College STAR is a collaboration project with East Carolina University, Appalachian State University and Fayetteville State University that promotes “Supporting Transition, Access and Retention” for students who are either Nontraditional or have a Learning Difference in some way. She has enjoyed working with Mathematical Sciences for the last couple of months and looks forward to building relationships with our Faculty, Staff and Students.