Provost Lecture Series: Math professor shares steepest descent method
Dr. Ben Ntatin, associate professor of mathematics, will be the next featured speaker
in the Provost Lecture Series at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8 in the Morgan University
Center, Room 303.
Dr. Ben Ntatin, associate professor of mathematics, will be the next featured speaker
in the Provost Lecture Series at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8 in the Morgan University
Center, Room 303.
For many people, understanding complex mathematical equations and concepts is more difficult than walking in the mountains. Somehow, however, an Austin Peay State University mathematics faculty member makes the ideas relate.
Dr. Ben Ntatin, associate professor of mathematics, will present the next session in the weekly Provost Lecture Series at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8 in the Morgan University Center, Room 303. The title of his presentation is 鈥淲alking in the mountains: The steepest descent method.鈥
His talk will be about how the notion of linearity is fundamental for numerous considerations in mathematics and engineering science.
鈥淚n rough terms, if a problem is linear or can be well approximated by a linear model, then there may very well be standard means of approaching it,鈥 he said. 鈥淢ost physically significant problems can be modeled into partial differential equations, and in the talk, I would demonstrate how such problems could be reduced into a large matrix equation, for which the steepest descent method is appropriate.鈥
Ntatin has taught at APSU since 2007 and has been instrumental in revitalizing calculus courses. The chair of the mathematics section of the Middle Tennessee Academy of Mathematics, he has presented at several conferences, meetings and workshops. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum in Bochum, Germany, a master鈥檚 in mathematics from the University of Ilorin in Ilorin, Nigeria, and a bacehlor鈥檚 in mathematics from the University of Jos in Jos, Nigeria.
Other sessions in the Provost Lecture Series also are planned for the academic year. All sessions are from 3-4:30 p.m. in the MUC, Room 303 (unless noted otherwise) and include the following:
Sept. 15: Dr. Donald Luck, professor of education
Sept. 22: Dr. Clark Maddux, associate professor of English
Sept. 29: Dr. Rebecca Jones, associate professor of chemistry
Oct. 6: Dr. Dwayne Estes, associate professor of biology
Oct. 13: Dr. Korre Foster, assistant professor of music
Oct. 20: Susan Bryant, professor of art
Oct. 27: Angelina Fowler, Center of Excellence for Field Biology
Nov. 3: Dr. Dan Frederick, professor of geology and geography
Nov. 10: Dr. Kathrine Flower, assistant professor of sociology
Nov. 17: Darren Michael, associate professor of theater and dance
Dec. 1: Dr. Tim Leszczak, assistant professor of health and human performance
Jan. 12: Dr. Ellen Smyth, instructor of mathematics
Jan. 19: Dr. Ann Silverberg, professor of music
Jan. 26: Dr. Marsha Lyle-Gonga, assistant professor of political science
Feb. 2: Dr. Rebecca Johansen, assistant professor of biology
Feb. 9: Dr. Sergei Markov, associate professor of biology
Feb. 16: Cynthia Marsh, professor of art
Feb. 23: Dr. Christine Mathenge, associate professor of geology
March 1: Dr. Robert Shelton, associate professor of chemistry
March 15, MUC 307: Dr. Allyn Smith, associate professor of physics
March 22: Dr. Sharon Mabry, professor of music
March 29: Dr. Cameron Sutt, assistant professor of history
April 5: Mark DeYoung, assistant professor of art
April 12: Dr. Tim Winters, professor of English
April 19, MUC 103: Dr. Jeffrey Wood, professor of music
The Provost Lecture Series seeks to foster a spirit of intellectual and scholarly inquiry among faculty, staff and students. The program will be used as a platform for APSU faculty members who are recent recipients of provost summer grants, who have been awarded faculty development leaves and who have engaged in recent scholarly inquiry during sabbatical leaves.
APSU faculty members with recent research of acclaim also will be given a platform within this series. In addition, other faculty members of local or widespread renown will be invited to lecture within this series.
For more information about the Provost Lecture Series, call Dr. Brian Johnson, assistant vice president of academic affairs at APSU, at (931) 221-7992 or email him at johnsonb@apsu.edu. -- Melony Shemberger