Jonathan Hauenstein was appointed as chair of the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics (ACMS), to begin July 1, 2021. He replaces Bei Hu, who has served in the role since 2018.
During his time as department chair, Hauenstein will focus on growth and sustainability in governance.
“With another 50% increase in the number of intended ACMS majors in the incoming class, ACMS has to grow strategically to complement the existing research areas and increase the number of advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses for our students,” he explained. “Bolstering the graduate and postdoctoral programs will increase faculty research productivity, which helps to raise the national and international profile of ACMS.”
Hauenstein began working at Notre Dame as an assistant professor in 2014 and was promoted to associate professor in 2015. He became a full professor in 2019. He also served as associate chair of the ACMS department from July 2018 until June 2021.
Before being hired at Notre Dame, Hauenstein taught at Texas A&M University and North Carolina State University. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Institut Mittag-Leffler in Djursholm, Sweden and the Fields Institute in Toronto, Canada.
The incoming chair has published over 100 articles and given over 100 presentations throughout his career. Hauenstein’s work has earned him a Sloan Research Fellowship, DARPA Young Faculty Award, Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and College of Science Research Award. He has also won a Rev. Edmond P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
“[Hauenstein] has already contributed in many ways to the success of ACMS, and I fully expect this to continue during his time as chair,” wrote Michael Hildreth, Interim Dean of the College of Science. “I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Bei [Hu] for all he has done for the Department. He has been a steady source of calm and leadership,” Hildreth added.
Hauenstein received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Findlay and his master’s degree from Miami University. He earned his doctoral degree in mathematics from Notre Dame in 2009 and served as a postdoctoral research associate here thereafter.
His research focuses on developing numerical methods for solving nonlinear equations. These techniques can be applied to numerous science and engineering problems and have helped Hauenstein create software packages like alphaCertified and Bertini. Hauenstein looks forward to supporting more mathematical solutions during his time as department chair.
“With an emphasis on collaboration, ACMS faculty and students are developing new methodologies and algorithms in mathematics and statistics as well as applying them to real-world problems,” he said.