Gustavus, she was at the University of Pittsburgh.  Her research interests include order-restricted statistical inference and nonparametric statistics. Recently, she has become interested in how children learn mathematics.  In her free time (what free time?), she enjoys genealogy, reading, and playing with her daughter, Laura.

The department recruited computer scientist David Wolfe in 1996.  He received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell and his PhD from University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for five years before joining us.  David's primary research interests lie in combinatorial game theory, a branch of mathematics used to study two-person perfect information games where the players take turns (such as Go, Chess, and Dots & Boxes).  David and his advisor, Elwyn Berlekamp, co-authored "Mathematical Go: Chilling Gets the Last Point" in 1994, and the book was translated into Japanese by the end of the same year.

Mathematician Moira McDermott received her A.B. in math from Bryn Mawr College.  She spent a year studying math as an undergraduate at Somerville College, Oxford University.  Moira worked for a small financial consulting firm in New York before beginning her graduate study.  She received her PhD from the University of Michigan where she worked with Mel Hochster.  Her research interests are in commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, and computational commutative algebra. She taught at Bowdoin College in Maine for two years before coming to Gustavus.

Mathematician Amos Ong joined the department in 1998.  He received a BSc in math from the National University of Singapore in 1989.  He spent a year in York University of Toronto doing an MA in probability and statistics and then went on to University of Rochester at Rochester, New York, to pursue an MA and a PhD in in area of algebraic topology.  His research interest also includes algebraic geometry, the theory of arrangements, and differential geometry.  He taught in Chatham College at Pittsburgh for a year before coming to Gustavus. His main interest outside mathematics is cooking various Asian ethnic food.

Applied mathematician Tom LoFaro joined the faculty in 2000.  He comes to us from a visiting position at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA.  Before that he taught at Washington State University.  Tom received his PhD in 1994 from Boston University under the direction of Nancy Kopell.  His research interests are in Mathematical Biology and nonlinear dynamics.  Throughout his career, Tom has been very active in developing curriculum materials for differential equations.  These materials make extensive use of computer technology and the internet. For an overview of some of this work see the IDEA website (http://www.sci.wsu.edu/idea/).  Tom is married and has two children, Dillon and Francesca.  His non-mathematical interests revolve around fly fishing and other outdoor activities.