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Three from Mathematics Take Part in Kolkata Conference

Professor Nachimuthu Manickam

Professor Nachimuthu Manickam

December 21, 2011

Three faculty members from DePauw's mathematics department attended the Institute for Mathematics, Bioinformatics, Information Technology and Computer Science's (IMBIC) 5th International Conference on Mathematical Sciences for Advancement of Science and Technology, MSAST 2011, held Dec. 18-20 in Kolkata, India.

Assistant Professors of Mathematics Suman Balasubramanian (below, left) and Naima Shifa presented research while at the conference, while Nachimuthu Manickam, professor of mathematics, also served as one of its organizers.

In 2005 Manickam was invited by the Calcutta Mathematical Society to give a talk on a mathematical conjecture he proposed and later solved with two of his colleagues, dubbed the Manickam-Miklos-Singhi conjecture. Members of the society asked him to return to Kolkata to serve on the organizing committee for the IMBIC conference.

Manickam joined the DePauw faculty in 1986. He has taught a wide range of courses in the mathematics department, as well as introductory  computer programming. Students talk of his love for teaching, his commitment to reaching students at all levels and his tough and challenging courses in which they learn and thrive. One student wrote of him, “The  first and foremost quality attributable to Professor Manickam is his remarkable ability to explain complex material to students in an understandable way. He uses the foundation he has created to challenge and stretch the abilities of all his students regardless of academic capabilities.”