Applied Mathematics is central to science and engineering education. As early as 1901 Engineering Mathematics was taught by faculty in the College of Engineering. Engineering Mathematics was organized as a separate Department of Engineering Mathematics in 1901. In 1948 the name of the unit was changed to the Department of Applied Mathematics and the Department granted its first Masters Degrees in that year as well. In 1958 it graduated its first BS degrees in Applied Mathematics. Soon afterwards, in 1962, the PhD degree in Applied Mathematics was approved by the Regents. In 1966 with hiring of S. Ulam by the Mathematics Department, the Applied Mathematics Department in the College of Engineering and Mathematics Department in the College of Arts and Sciences merged. The two departments were joined from 1966 until 1989.
In 1989, following a meeting of a number of faculty and administrators in the Sciences and Engineering, a recommendation was made to establish an independent Program in Applied Mathematics (APPM). The program was organized within the College of Arts and Sciences and was given authority to grant BS, MS and Ph.D degrees in Applied Mathematics. After 1989 APPM began a remarkable period of development; in 1996 the Regents approved changing its title to Department of Applied Mathematics. Thus with the re-emergence of this independent Program in 1989, APPM has now reached its 25 anniversary. Instrumental faculty in the mid 1980s were Professors James Curry and Robert Easton who helped form an important committee with a vision to develop a new programmatic effort in Applied Mathematics.
Early views were that the program would be housed in the Graduate School with faculty rostered in various departments; this would have been similar to how institutes were organized. In 1988 the committee recommended that Mark Ablowitz be hired as the first Director of the Program in Applied Mathematics. By the time Ablowitz arrived on campus in July 1989 to assume the position of Director, faculty committees had recommended that the Program be housed in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) where it is today. This supports the view that via the Department can support engineering, science, and mathematics, as well as many other fields of application. In the early 1990s APPM began an affiliated faculty effort, where an affiliated faculty member from another department can direct a PhD student in conjunction with a coadvisor from APPM.
From 1989 to 2000 Ablowitz was the first Director and subsequently became Chair of the Department. From 2000 - 2003, Professor Harvey Segur was Chair and from 2003 - 2012 Professor James Curry was Chair. Ablowitz is serving as Chair 2012 - present. In 1989 the task of building the newly created program was given to Ablowitz and his colleagues. The program originally had one staff member, Janet Horn. In addition to Ablowitz and Curry, two key faculty members, Jim Meiss and Harvey Segur, were appointed beginning Fall 1989. Soon after the program was formed a number of faculty moved from the Mathematics Department to APPM; this included Professors Jerold Beberness, Robert Easton, John Maybee and John Williamson. Interestingly, by moving to Applied Math, Jerold Beberness was a faculty member in both Applied Math departments: prior to 1966 and post 1989. Thus the original four faculty along with the four that moved from the Math Department plus key new faculty who were hired the early mid 1990s: Professors Beylkin, Li, Manteuffel, McCormick and Fornberg, formed the core of the unit and collaborated on shaping its future. Over time the current structure of the undergraduate and graduate curricula were developed. In addition to hiring tenure track faculty the Program also hired two instructor/postdoctoral researchers, who typically spend three years with the unit before moving on to permanent, typically tenure track faculty positions.
In the mid 1990s one of the people hired was Dr. Anne Dougherty. Anne, a remarkable teacher and advisor, decided she preferred to remain with APPM as a senior instructor. Over time, she made improvement of APPMs undergraduate program a priority. She became our Associate Chair during Professor Curry’s term as Chair. She has been extremely influential in our teaching and service missions ever since. During the past few years, APPM’s teaching obligations have increased significantly. This is largely due to the decision by the College of Engineering to substantially increase its overall undergraduate enrollment. APPM is in a growth phase once again. Last year the Department hired two new faculty members: Stephen Becker and Mark Hoefer, and is again gearing up to recruit a new faculty member beginning fall semester 2015. We are looking forward to the future with high expectations and excitement.