Mathematics and Computer Science embody artistry and analytical thought. It’s both pragmatic and irrational (pun intended). While mathematics and computer science are the foundational knowledge of many professions, it also provides valuable life skills that allow us to problem-solve every day.

WHY STUDY MATHEMATICS AT SEWANEE?

The study of mathematics at Sewanee prepares you to be a discerning citizen capable of critically analyzing information, weighing alternatives, and presenting reasoned arguments. Math is a valuable skill set with innumerable applications. While the concepts are crucial for students in the discipline, their lessons can extend to far-ranging fields like law, science, economics, and theology.

Like a sculpture or a concerto, a theorem or an algorithm is a creative work. The department here at Sewanee seeks to expose you to the beauty of mathematics. As a mathematics major, you will take foundational courses, and then you’ll choose advanced level courses to narrow your focus. Whether it’s theory or statistics, you’ll glean from each class an understanding of reading and presentation, as well as the ability to formulate substantial proofs of your own.

FIRST DESTINATIONS: MATHEMATICS MAJORS

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first jobs.

  • Software engineer, Mindtree, Gainesville, Florida.
  • Actuarial assistant, Protective Life, Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Investment analyst, Edgehill Endowment Partners, New Haven, Connecticut.
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: MATHEMATICS MAJORS

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and pre-professional programs–about 95 percent to law school and over 85 percent to medical school. Below is a sampling of where Sewanee grads continue their education.

  • Ph.D. in physics, University of California Davis.
  • M.S. in mathematics, Washington University of St. Louis.
  • Ph.D. in geophysical fluid dynamics, Florida State University.
WHY STUDY COMPUTER SCIENCE AT SEWANEE?

There’s perhaps no more applicable field of study as we move further into a digital age. The world has come to depend on rapid rates of digital progression, and computer scientists are in great demand. That’s right—we’re talking to you. Sewanee’s computer science program will instill a deep understanding of both the mathematics of the field and the social forces behind it. As esoteric as it may seem, computer science solves people’s problems, making it a valuable and relevant language for everyone.

With diverse electives like graphics, robotics, artificial intelligence, and programming, you’ll have the option to focus on what interests you most. Co-curricular opportunities in the department include a National Science Foundation-sponsored initiative for undergraduate research in software development.

FIRST DESTINATIONS: COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first jobs.

  • System developer analyst, Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Virginia.
  • Technology analyst, Credit Suisse, Raleigh, North Carolina.
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and pre-professional programs–about 95 percent to law school and over 85 percent to medical school. Below is a sampling of where Sewanee grads continue their education.

  • Ph.D., in Computer Science, Clemson University.

A Sewanee Math Professor Soars In and Out of the Classroom

Catherine Cavagnaro is honored for her pioneering work in aviation safety.

Sewanee Math Professor Catherine Cavagnaro developed a fascination for flying at an early age. Growing up in the flight path of Moffett Federal Airfield in the Bay Area of California, she spent hours in her backyard watching military aircraft take off and land, and “flying” her pet guinea pigs around in shoeboxes she had turned into toy airplanes.

Years later, that early infatuation has ripened into a singularly remarkable career in aviation and, in November 2018, a singularly impressive honor: induction into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame honor arrived in the same year that Cavagnaro was named the National Safety Representative of the Year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and received Sewanee’s Award for Teaching Excellence. “After 2018, 2019 is going to be a real bummer,” Cavagnaro jokes.

Cavagnaro’s specialty is training pilots to recover from dangerous flight conditions, particularly aerodynamic stalls, when an aircraft’s wings stop providing lift because they’ve been angled too steeply. After an airplane experiences a stall, it goes into a spin—corkscrewing toward the ground—and that’s where Cavagnaro comes in, teaching pilots the techniques necessary to right their aircraft and live to fly another day. Pilots from all over the world —including military pilots, airline pilots, and flight test pilots—come to train with Cavagnaro in Sewanee.

“A lot of pilots are afraid of stalls and spins,” says Cavagnaro. “To me, it’s a challenge, and it’s something that I love doing. I can take someone in a matter of a day or two and get them completely comfortable with stalls and spins. In a safe, controlled environment, I take people over the edge so they know what the edge looks like.”

Though she had been fascinated by flight since those early days in California, Cavagnaro didn’t take her first flight lesson until 1999, after she earned tenure at the University. In Sewanee, she trained with aerobatic pioneer Bill Kershner, who quickly realized that a talented mathematician with a passion for aviation brought a special set of skills to the field. Soon, Cavagnaro was contributing her mathematics expertise to the technical aspects of Kershner’s flight manuals.

Kershner introduced Cavagnaro to the University of Tennessee Space Institute, where she took graduate classes in aeronautical engineering and did flight testing and math research for the institute. She started teaching aerobatics with Kershner in 2003 and has helped extend his legacy by continuing the work of his Ace Aerobatic School since his death in 2007. 

A Sampling of Courses

Multidimensional Calculus
Mathematics

Calculus of several variables. Vectors, partial and directional derivatives, space curves, gradients, maxima and minima, linear and differentiable transformations, vector fields, line integrals, multidimensional Riemann integrals, and applications in physics and geometry are considered.

MATH 207
Probability and Statistics
Mathematics

A treatment of probability and a logical development of the framework of mathematical statistics. Topics include random variables, distribution functions, sampling, and statistical inference.

MATH 321
Mathematical Modeling
Mathematics

An introduction to the creation of mathematical models, both deterministic and probabilistic, for the description of problems drawn from physical, biological, social, and environmental sources.

MATH 332
Introduction to Modeling and Programming
Computer Science

An introduction to creative modeling of both natural and virtual worlds, in which students gain understanding of human interaction with computing devices as well as the expertise needed for further course work in computer science. Lab experiences using the explicit notation of a programming language reinforce the application of abstractions while affording practice in algorithmic problem solving and relevant theory.

CSCI 157
Multimedia Programming and Design
Computer Science

An introduction to object-oriented programming techniques that underlie the creation, manipulation, and transmission of digital media, including digital photography, audio, and video. Topics include scaling and transforming pictures, sound waveform visualization and manipulation, MIDI, chromakey, frame-based animation, and compression, encoding, and transmission of digital media over the Internet.

CSCI 276
Robotics
Computer Science

An overview of the field of robotics with special emphasis on motion planning. In addition to basic computer science concepts, introductions to the necessarily related fields of mechanical and electrical engineering are provided as appropriate. Computer simulations are used and students get hands-on experience with real world robotics through assignments using project component kits.

CSCI 344

Mathematics and Computer Science

Programs of study & related programs

Requirements for the Major and Minor in Mathematics

Requirements for the Major and Minor in Computer Science

Meet Some Professors

Catherine E. Cavagnaro
ccavagna@sewanee.edu

Catherine Cavagnaro holds a B.S. from Santa Clara University and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Geometric topology and combinatorial group theory served as the basis for her thesis. She enjoys problems from a variety of other fields including statistics and cryptology as well as differential equations and aerodynamics.

Gaston Swindell Bruton Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, Department Chair
Stephen Carl
scarl@sewanee.edu

Stephen Carl received the B.S.E.E. degree from Rice University, a M.A. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from Wright State University in Ohio. His doctoral thesis explored memory-management issues in programming language runtime systems. He taught Computer Science courses for seven years at Wright State before coming to Sewanee.

Associate Professor of Computer Science
Emily Puckette
epuckett@sewanee.edu

Emily Puckette began her career in mathematics by teaching and training teachers as a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Gabon in Central Africa. Her mathematical fields of interest are probability and analysis, and her pedagogical focus is engaging students in mathematics through active-learning techniques in the classroom.

Professor of Mathematics
Doug Drinen
ddrinen@sewanee.edu

After a two year post-doc at Dartmouth College, Doug Drinen came to Sewanee in 2001. He greatly enjoys teaching across the entire undergraduate mathematics curriculum.

During his time at Sewanee, his research interests have shifted from functional analysis to probability, graph theory, economics, and any other area in which he can find problems to work on with students and colleagues.

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Matthew Rudd
mbrudd@sewanee.edu

Matthew Rudd has been at Sewanee since 2010, after teaching at the University of Idaho and the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah, and his research interests include nonlinear partial differential equations and statistical modeling. 

Associate Professor of Mathematics
Anne Duffee
laduffee@sewanee.edu

Anne Duffee holds a B.A. from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD and a Ph.D in Mathematics from the University of Alabama. Her research lies primarily in harmonic analysis, and her dissertation centered around two integral operators: the harmonic and geometric maximal operators.

She enjoys questions from a variety of fields, especially those in the fields of analysis and topology, and she has a growing interest in philosophy of mathematics, particularly questions of epistemology surrounding mathematical objects. 

Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Zhexiu Tu
zhtu@sewanee.edu

Zhexiu Tu holds a B.A. from Bard College and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. His research lies primarily in combinatorics and topology. He enjoys questions from a variety of fields, especially those in matroid theory.

Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Chris Eppolito
cgeppoli@sewanee.edu

Chris Eppolito studied mathematics and philosophy at Canisius College and earned a PhD in Mathematics from SUNY Binghamton University.

His research is centers on combinatorics, focusing mostly on matroid theory and its connections with algebra, topology, and geometry.

When Chris is not researching or teaching mathematics, you can find him fishing, hiking, or coding.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Seth Gannon
dsgannon@sewanee.edu

Seth Gannon holds a B.A. from Transylvania University, a M.S. from the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. from University of Louisville. While finishing his dissertation he was also a lecturer of statistics for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

His research interests include the study of algebraic coding theory and its applications to cryptography, as well as, the study of ARIMA models in the area of times series analysis.

In his free time you can usually find him on the tennis court.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Shuler Hopkins
sghopkin@sewanee.edu

Shuler Hopkins earned his B.S. from King University in Bristol, Tennessee and a Ph.D. from The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His research so far has been in the area of operator algebras with a focus on "Hadamard matrices".

Outside of mathematics, he enjoys all things soccer, baking (and eating) bread, and gardening.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics
View All

Contact

catherine cavagnaro
Gaston swindell bruton professor of mathematics and computer science

department Chair

ccavagna@sewanee.edu

Woods Labs 133A, 931-598-1716

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