My passion and appreciation for teaching dates back to my years in elementary school and my experiences in learning from some very gifted, hard-working and dedicated teachers – individuals who exhibited a true love for their craft. Notable among these dedicated teachers is my mother, who has taught in a suburban New Jersey elementary school system for over 40 years. She has provided me with a wealth of inspiration for many years. I remember sitting in classes in elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and graduate school, and often appreciating the dedication and skill of my teachers who went to great lengths to make sure that I learned the material they were teaching. They demonstrated a love and enthusiasm for teaching and instilled in me a desire to learn. Little did they know they were also instilling in me a desire to teach. Indeed, much of my own teaching philosophy can be traced to the inspiration I have been given by those who instructed me during my 20-plus years in school. I am currently employed as an Associate Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Houston-Downtown in Houston, Texas.

Education

Ph.D. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University at Houston, 2004.

M.A. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University at Houston, 2003.

B.A. in Mathematics from Dartmouth College at Hanover, NH, 1997.

Work History

Assistant Chair for Freshman Programs, Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas, 2012 through present.

Associate Professor, Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas, 2011 through present.

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas, 2005 through 2011.

Adjunct Instructor, Mathematics Department, Lone Star College-CyFair, 2004 through 2006.

Lecturer, CAAM Department, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 2004 through 2005.

Research Interests

1. Graph theory, including (but not limited to):
   • graph coloring and its applications.
     (for example, university timetabling of courses and final exams)
   • graph labelings
     (for example, graceful and harmonious labelings of graphs)
2. Operations research and combinatorial optimization.
3. Mathematics education and curriculum development.