Introducing the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science Special Edition Newsletter
Letter From The Department Chair Welcome to the first newsletter of the new Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science! My name is Hirotachi Abo and I am the chair for our new department. This August I took the baton from Dr. Chris Williams who served as chair for both the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistical Science for the past five years, and as the chair of the Department of Statistical Science for several years before that. The Mathematics and Statistical Science Departments had previously been two separate departments with two separate chairs. In 2015, the two departments came under the leadership of Dr. Williams. During the summer of 2020, we officially became a single department. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Dean Ginger E. Carney who helped with this unification, Dr. Williams who had been the bridge between the two departments, and the staff who have worked tirelessly for both departments. Thanks to them, this transition was easy and smooth. Mathematics and Statistics are two different disciplines, yet they share a lot of commonality. Furthermore, Mathematics and Statistics are being applied to solving complex problems in the real world (see, for example, the website https://pandemic-modeling.uidaho.edu/ about the Covid-19 modeling project two of our faculty members, Drs. Jennifer Johnson-Leung and Ben Ridenhour, are involved with). As a result, the importance of their presence in many STEM areas has greatly increased over the past few decades. I thus anticipate that this merger would help us streamline our undergraduate and graduate programs, contribute to the development of new in-
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terdisciplinary research programs such as data science, where Mathematics and Statistics can play a major role, and encourage collaboration in teaching and research among faculty (see page 2 for the list of our faculty members). We will continue to offer all of the degree programs that existed in the Mathematics Department and the Statistical Science Department. With this merger, I hope the department can better help students thrive and excel academically, prepare them for a rapidly changing world, and assist the faulty by promoting excellence in teaching and research. Last spring, the surge of Covid-19 led to a rapidly changing world. We quickly pivoted our classes to be fully online for the remainder of spring semester. This fall we continue to adjust, and our courses will be delivered by a range of methods, from face-to-face to a hybrid of inperson and online to completely virtual. These adjustments allow us to meet students’ needs while maintaining a safe campus environment. During the summer, faculty and staff attended virtual trainings and discussions to prepare ourselves for an extremely flexible teaching environment. Students might not be able to enjoy the same pre-Covid-19 on-campus experience as in years past; however, we will continue to ensure that they have a learning experience that provides a high quality education. I would like to close this greeting by saying thank you for being part of the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science. I look forward to getting to know you in my new role as department chair.
Hirotachi Abo, Department Chair Fall 2020
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