Colby College Mathematics

Tenure-track assistant professor position beginning July 1, 2025.

The Colby College Department of Mathematics seeks an exceptional teacher with a dynamic research program in any area of pure mathematics complementing current research strengths of the department. The teaching responsibility is an average of 4.5 courses per year. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in mathematics and must have at least one year of postdoctoral experience with very substantial teaching and research components. Applications must include evidence of a strong continuing research program as well as of exceptional teaching and mentoring of undergraduates from diverse demographics.

To apply, please provide a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statements on teaching and research, official summary sheets from all course evaluations received since 2022, and recent research publications or preprints representative of your scholarship. Please arrange for at least four letters of recommendation to be submitted directly by the recommenders, at least two of which should focus on your teaching and mentoring experience. The cover letter should address your vision of mathematics in a liberal arts context, should highlight your experience teaching and mentoring students from diverse demographics, and should address specific reasons why you have made Colby your choice. The research statement should be aimed at mathematics faculty who are not necessarily in your area of specialization. All materials should be submitted online at https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/24907. Review of applications will begin on October 20, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled.

Colby is a highly selective college of approximately 2300 students located in central Maine. The college, situated one hour north of Portland, and three hours north of Boston, enjoys easy access to the spectacular outdoors, as well as to various recreational and cultural activities. The College provides significant support for both teaching and research. For more information about the position and the department, visit colby.edu/math.

Colby is a private, coeducational liberal arts college that admits students and makes personnel decisions on the basis of the individual’s qualifications to contribute to Colby’s educational objectives and institutional needs. The principle of not discriminating on the basis of race, color, age, s*x, s*xual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, caste, national or ethnic origin, marital status, genetic information, political beliefs, veteran or military status, parental status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, physical or mental disability unrelated to the job or course of study requirements is consistent with the mission of a liberal arts college and the law.

Mathematics Colloquium
Patricia Cahn, Smith College
Wallpaper Patterns and the Shape of Space

Monday, March 27, 4:00 pm, Davis 301
Refreshments at 3:30 pm, Davis 2nd floor

Wallpaper patterns are infinite patterns in the plane. It turns out that we can classify them using tools from topology, a field like geometry, but where shapes can stretch and bend.
We’ll practice learning to instantly recognize these patterns (a fun party trick). If time permits, we’ll see how similar ideas can help us understand different three-dimensional spaces–think possible shapes of the universe.

Mathematics Department Colloquium

Noha Abdelghany, Colby College
The Riddle of Projective Planes
Friday, November 5, 2021, 3:30 PM, Davis 201
Refreshments at 4:30 PM, Davis Second Floor

A projective plane is an enlargement of the usual plane where parallel lines intersect. Some projective planes are finite, having only finitely many points and lines. Finite projective planes, which are interesting on their own right, find uses in many areas; such as designing experiments in statistics, as well as answering some game questions like how many different types of solutions to Sudoku! Constructing projective planes with different orders can be very mysterious and challenging. We will talk about the journey of solving the riddle of projective planes of small order, and learn about the still-unsolved riddle of larger projective planes.

We are excited to announce the guests for our 2021 Mathematics and Statistics Alumni Panel
Thursday, April 1, 7:00-8:00 PM
Zoom Meeting ID 984 9845 0567 Security Passcode 974333
https://colby.zoom.us/j/98498450567?pwd=TXRXU2pDNzU1aHg2R2xrWE1odDNIUT09O

Our guest panel includes:
Pratap Lutiel, Colby ’14, alarm.com
Joerose Tharakan ’08, Microsoft Corporation
Dan Medici ’19, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Dr. Hanna Gerlovin ’08, US Department of Veteran Affairs
Malia Kawamura ’14, Raytheon Technologies

Scott Taylor will ask a couple questions about their time as a math/stats student at Colby and how their education has influenced their life or career since then. He will then open it up to questions from those in attendance.We hope you can join us.

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Surveying Voters on Election Day:
How Exit Polls Are Conducted and Used by the Media

Dan Merkle, NBC News

Virtual Mathematics and Statistics Colloquium
Friday, March 12, 3:30 pmhttps://colby.zoom.us/j/93518592504?pwd=aXBGbHZObm5URkJLaXlTTThmNHBWZz09

Exit polls play an important role in the media’s coverage of elections by providing accurate and timely data that help us report on the two main stories of any election: Who won, and what does it mean? My presentation will start with a brief history of exit polling and an overview of how exit polls are used on election night. Then I will discuss methodological issues in exit polling including sampling, questionnaire design, noncoverage, nonresponse and weighting. I will conclude by discussing the challenges posed by COVID-19 and changes made to the exit polling procedure for the 2020 election.

Bio: Dan Merkle is Executive Director of Elections at ABC News where he is in charge of the Decision Desk, election data and projections. At ABC News, he’s also responsible for setting and enforcing survey reporting standards for the news division and vetting surveys and social science studies to determine if they are reportable. Dan also oversees the ABC News/Ipsos polling partnership which conducts online polling using the probability-based Knowledge Panel. Dan has been elected to the Executive Council of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) five times. He’s currently AAPOR’s President and previously has served as Secretary/Treasurer, Counselor-at-Large, Conference Chair, and Communications Chair. Dan is the author of over 60 conference papers, journal articles and book chapters on survey methodology and public opinion. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Research from Northwestern University.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...