Research

The department has an active research program with ongoing grant support from NASA, NSF, EVMS, JLab, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the last decade, the department has consistently ranked in the top 20% nationally among all mathematics departments in the US in terms of federal R&D expenditures.

Top 20%
Among All Mathematics Departments in US

John A. Adam
University Professor
  • Mathematical modeling (especially in cancer biology and wound healing),
  • Theoretical meteorological optics
Przemyslaw Bogacki
Associate Chair, University Professor
  • Computer aided geometric design,
  • Numerical solution of initial value problems for ordinary differential equations,
  • Applications of technology in collegiate mathematics
N. Rao Chaganty
Statistics Program Director
  • Large deviations,
  • Generalized linear models,
  • Estimating equations
Raymond Cheng
 
  • Prediction theory,
  • Functional analysis
Norou Diawara
  • Multivariate analysis,
  • Modeling,
  • Probability theory,
  • Estimation
J. Mark Dorrepaal
  • Stokes flow,
  • Transform methods,
  • Asymptotic analysis
Fang Q. Hu
 
  • Computational fluids with an emphasis in turbulent mixing
Sookyung Joo
  • Nonlinear partial differential equations,
  • Calculus of variations,
  • Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of liquid crystalline materials
Hideaki Kaneko
 
  • Wavelets, numerical analysis of integral equations,
  • Finite element analysis,
  • Discontinuous Galerkin methods
John E. Kroll
  • Geophysical fluid dynamics,
  • Oceanography
D. Glenn Lasseigne
 
  • Combustion theory,
  • Application of integral equations
Li-Shi Luo
Richard F. Barry Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, Eminent Scholar
  • Kinetic theory and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics,
  • Lattice Boltzmann equation and CFD,
  • Complex fluids
Gordon Melrose
Department Chair
  • Singular integral equations,
  • Special functions,
  • Fracture mechanics
Richard D. Noren
  • Volterra integral equations,
  • Fredholm and Hammerstein integral equations,
  • Discontinuous Galerkin method,
  • Putnam competition (working with undergraduate students)
Kayoung Park
  • Joint modeling of survival and longitudinal data,
  • Survival analysis
Yan Peng
  • Fluid dynamics,
  • Lattice Boltzmann equation,
  • Gas kinetic scheme,
  • High performance computation
Ke Shi
  • Numerical analysis,
  • Discontinuous Galerkin method,
  • Multiscale finite element methods for heterogeneous media
Lucia Tabacu
  • Rank statistics,
  • Nonparametric factorial designs,
  • Quantile estimation based on almost sure limit theorems
John Tweed
Eminent Scholar
  • Integral equations,
  • Transform techniques,
  • Elasticity and fracture mechanics,
  • Acoustics,
  • Radiation transport
Xiang Xu
  • Nonlinear partial differential equations,
  • Calculus of variations
Yuesheng Xu
  • Data science: signal and image processing, medical imaging, machine learning, high dimensional data representation
  • Computational mathematics: multiscale methods for solving integral equations, finite volume methods, bioinformatics, high-performance computing
Nail Yamaleev
  • Entropy-stable spectral collocation methods,
  • Reduced-order modeling,
  • Grid adaptation based on error minimization,
  • Adjoint-based optimization methods,
  • Computational fluid dynamics

Ruhai Zhou

Graduate Program Director

  • Numerical analysis,
  • Scientific computation,
  • Numerical simulations of liquid crystalline polymer and nano-composite materials

PI

Francis Badavi:

  • IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW MAGNETIC FIELD DEFINITION INTO THE LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO) RADIATION ENVIRONMENT MODEL; NASA; $1,248,000; 2/1/2018 - 1/31/2023.

Norou Diawara:

  • 4-VA STATS IN THE BIOMEDICAL ACCELERATION ON IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS RESEARCH: Old Dominion University; 1-1-2018 - 12-31-19; $5,000.

Fang Hu:

  • TD-FAST (Time Domain Fast Acoustic Scattering Toolkit); National Institute of Aerospace; $96,070; 2/26/2019 - 3/31/20.

Sookyung Joo:

  • COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FIELD-INDUCED MESOPHASES; National Science Foundation; $170,000; 8/15/19 - 8/14/22.
  • Mathematical Studies of Smectic Liquid Crystals: Simons Foundation; $28,000; 9/1/2015 - 8/31/2019.

Li-Shi Luo:

  • COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EFFICIENT HIGH-ORDER ALGORITHMS FOR NONEQUILIBRIUM MICROFLOWS OVER OVER THE ENTIRE RANGE OF KNUDSEN NUMBER; National Science Foundation; $162,500; 07/01/2017 - 06/30/2020.

Ke Shi:

  • New structure-preserving finite element methods for Magnetohydrodynamics; Simons Foundation; $42,000; 9/1/2019 - 8/31/2022.

Guohui Song:

  • Computational Algorithms Detecting Changes; National Science Foundation; $140,000; 8/1/19 -7/31/22.

John Tweed:

  • RADIATION SHIELDING STUDIES AND IMPROVED TRANSPORT METHODS: NASA; $844,775; 8/31/2014 - 3/31/2020.

Xiang Xu:

  • Dynamic Q-tensor theory for liquid crystals; Simons Foundation; $42,000; 9/1/2019 - 8/31/2022.

Yuesheng Xu:

  • Collaborative Research: Space Optimization in Large Scale Data Processing: A Multiscale Proximity Approach: National Science Foundation; $125,000; 7/1/2019-6/30/2021.
  • International Conference on Mathematics of Data Science: National Science Foundation; $15,000; 6/1/2018 - 11/30/2019.

Nail Yamaleev:

  • Physics-Based Spectral Collocation Methods for Large Eddy Simulation on Adaptive Grids; Army Research Office; $328,602; 10/01/17 - 09/30/21.

Ruhai Zhou:

  • COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: KINETIC TO CONTINUUM MODELING OF ACTIVE ANISOTROPIC FLUIDS; National Science Foundation; $120,000; 9/15/2015 - 8/14/2018 (no cost extension to 8/14/2019).

Co-PI

Rao Chaganty:

  • CBP Data Analysis Support FY20; Old Dominion University (2%); $26,000; 7-1-19 - 6-30-20.

Norou Diawara:

  • IMPROVING INTEGRATED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE TRAINING ACROSS THE LIFESPAN FOR MASTERS LEVEL COUNSELORS AND CLINICAL SUPERVISORS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING Year 3; US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES (10%); $14,400; 7-1-17 - 8-31-20. PI: Mark Rehfuss, Co-PI: Jeffery Moe, C. Nesbitt, G. Kemer, A. Gupta, T. Gustin, N. Diawara.
  • Virginia Seat Belt and Core Surveys 2019: VA Dept of Motor Vehicle, (50%); $81,368; 10/1/2018 - 9/30/2019. PI: B. Porter, Co-PI: N. Diawara.
  • Noyce Stem Teacher Active Recruitment (On Star); National Science Foundation, (25%); $18,750; 3/1/2019 - 2/29/2020. PI: M. Grant, Co-PI: R. Whittecar, M. Enderson, N. Diawara.

Hideaki Kaneko,

Fang Hu,

Katie Smith:

  • International Conference on Mathematics of Data Science: National Science Foundation; $15,000; 6/1/2018 - 11/30/2019. PI: Y. Xu, Co-PI: F. Hu, H. Kaneko, K. Smith.

Kayoung Park:

  • "Food Assistance, Diet and Body Weight Status among WIC Eligible Children" National Institutes of Health/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R03HD090387-01); 12/08/2016 - 12/31/2019, (25%) $38,750, PI: Harry Zhang

Research Spotlight

Professor Fang Hu

Professor Fang Hu is a world-renowned scholar in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Since 1990, he has secured several external grants totaling more than $1 million. Currently, he is supported by a grant from NIA entitled "TD-FAST".

 

Professor John Adam

Professor John Adam presents this fascinating look at the underlying mathematical structures behind the stunning variety of shapes and patterns in the natural world. Watch Nature's Mathematics Episode 1 and Episode 2.