Camillia Smith Barnes

Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. Michigan State University
M.S. Michigan State University
M.A. Harvard University
Ph.D. Harvard University

{P} 434.381.6509
{E} cbarnes@sbc.edu
{O} Guion A202

Camillia "Cammie" Smith Barnes joined the department in the fall of 2009, after completing a Ph.D. at Harvard University. Her dissertation focuses on counting the number of distinct shuffles of two permutations. Barnes grew up in Michigan, completed her graduate work in England and in Massachusetts, and is glad to have moved to Virginia! She is a 2009 National Project NExT fellow and an alumna of Sweet Briar's Junior Year in France program. Her current work is in enumerative combinatorics, with a particular interest in permutation enumeration. Besides doing math, Barnes enjoys reading classic fiction, watching films, cooking, jogging, playing board games and playing the violin.

Robert L. Chase

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. University of Maine
Ph.D. University of Virginia

{P} 434.381.6124
{E} chase@sbc.edu
{O} Guion A202

Robert Chase's current work focuses on programming hand-held devices for use in medical research. He has interests in various areas of computer science: operating systems, UNIX, computer networks and communications, object-oriented programming, and computer applications in the liberal arts curriculum. Chase's proposals for integrating computers into the liberal arts have received funding from Digital Equipment Corporation (now Hewlett-Packard), IBM, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation (merged with Rockefeller Brothers Fund) and The Pew Memorial Trust (now part of The Pew Charitable Trusts). He also has received network and research funding from the National Science Foundation.

Bessie Kirkwood

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. University of Arkansas
M.S. University of Arkansas
Ph.D. University of Oklahoma
Ph.D. University of Virginia

{P} 434.381.6167
{E} bkirk@sbc.edu
{W} http://www.faculty.sbc.edu/bkirk
{O} Guion A206

Bessie Kirkwood holds doctorates in both mathematics and statistics. She has co-authored papers published in Journal of Algebra, Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Pacific Journal of Mathematics and Geophysical Journal International. Her research has applied statistical methods to estimate the motion of tectonic plates and to describe the movement of ice floes.

Kirkwood has worked as a statistical consultant at the University of Virginia, where her projects have included research on health behaviors of college students; a study of the nurse labor supply in Virginia; and injuries to feet and lower legs in car crashes. She recently completed a 36-month grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new course in biostatistics. The new course is required for the minor in statistics.

James Kirkwood

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. Southeast Missouri State College
M.A. University of Oklahoma
Ph.D. University of Virginia

{P} 434.381.6285
{E} jrkirkwood@sbc.edu
{O} Guion A208

Jim Kirkwood has had six mathematics textbooks published in topics ranging from calculus to real analysis to mathematical biology. His original research was in mathematical physics, and he co-authored the seminal paper in a topic now called Kirkwood-Thomas Theory in mathematical physics. During the summer, he teaches real analysis to the entering graduate students at the University of Virginia. He has been awarded several National Science Foundation grants and is currently writing a text in mathematical physics.

Raina Robeva

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. Sofia University, Bulgaria
M.S. Sofia University, Bulgaria
Ph.D. University of Virginia

{P} 434.381.6213
{E} robeva@sbc.edu
{W} http://www.faculty.sbc.edu/robeva
{O} Guion A204

Raina Robeva's research interests span a wide range of topics including the Markov property of random fields, spectral synthesis in Bessel spaces and mathematical modeling for the biomedical sciences.

She has received funding for her research and educational projects from federal and private sources including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Thomas F. and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, the Commonwealth Health Research Board and the Carilion Biomedical Institute. Currently, Robeva is the principal investigator for a National Science Foundation CCLI grant with focus on undergraduate mathematical biology education, a collaborative project with the University of Western Michigan.

In the past five years she has co-directed faculty professional workshops in mathematical and computational biology sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. Robeva is the lead author of the undergraduate textbook "An Invitation to Biomathematics" published last year by Academic Press.

Robeva is chair of the Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America on Mathematical and Computational Biology (BIO SIGMAA).

Stephen R. Wassell

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

B.S. University of Virginia
M.S. University of Virginia
Ph.D. University of Virginia
M.C.S. University of Virginia

{P} 434.381.6214
{E} wassell@sbc.edu
{W} http://www.faculty.sbc.edu/wassell
{O} Guion 201

Steve Wassell's research interests span all three of the disciplines in which he holds degrees. His principal topic of investigation is the relationship between architecture and mathematics. The most recent product of this research is a 2006 book, "Andrea Palladio: Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese" (with Branko Mitrović), which presents a full measured survey of one of Andrea Palladio's most influential works, accompanied by essays which discuss the design of the villa, the size of the piede (foot) used in creating the villa, and the elements of the villa such as doors and staircases. The survey is presented through 14 fold-out drawings, approximately 16.5 x 23.4 inches each, comprising a complete set of plans, elevations, sections, and window schedules. He also led a three-day research tour of eight of Palladio's villas directly after Nexus '98: Relationships Between Architecture and Mathematics. This workshop was partially supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

In earning a master's of computer science in May 1999, Wassell researched within the fields of physical design and genetic algorithms. His specialization in mathematics is mathematical physics, and he has published papers in the Journal of Mathematical Physics and Springer Verlag's Lecture Notes in Physics. He also has been awarded three U.S. patents, including one for a solar-powered lawn mower. His hobbies include playing the guitar, weight-lifting and gardening.