Department of Mathematics

CNN Health—We really did buy more alcohol during the early pandemic, study finds:  As many U.S. states implemented stay-at-home orders beginning in March 2020, anecdotes reported a surge in alcohol sales, raising concerns about increased alcohol use and associated ills. The surveillance report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism provides monthly U.S. alcohol sales data from a subset of states, allowing an investigation of this potential increase in alcohol use. Meanwhile, anonymized human mobility data released by companies such as SafeGraph enables an examination of the visiting behavior of people to various alcohol outlets such as bars and liquor stores. The study's coauthors are: Yingjie Hu, assistant professor in the department of geography;  Brian Quigley, a research assistant professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and, Dane Taylor, assistant professor in the department of mathematics. Their study examines changes to alcohol sales and alcohol outlet visits during COVID-19 and their geographic differences across states. See research news by Charlotte Hsu.

The University at Buffalo Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce that the American Mathematical Society has named Professor Hangfeng Li a member of the 2021 Class of Fellows. The international honor places Professor Li among the world's outstanding mathematicians for his contributions to algebraic dynamics and operator algebras. He joined UB Mathematics in 2005, and is currently teaching MTH 424/524, “Survey of Fourier Series Methods”. His main research interest is on noncommutative geometry and dynamical systems, especially connections between operator algebras and dynamical systems. Professor Li's recent work concentrates on actions of countable sofic groups and algebraic actions of general countable (amenable) groups. Read the article by Charlotte Hsu.

The Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce that Robert Busch, clinical assistant professor, is the winner of the coveted Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Award, 2019-2020. Busch was recognized by the undergraduate Student Association for his commitment and dedication to students. He was nominated for the award by his students. Upon news of the award, Busch's first thought was to acknowledge his students: “To all my students, over all the years, and in all the classes…for giving me the privilege of being your instructor, for making me into a better teacher, communicator, and human being, for the pleasure of watching you learn and succeed, and for the thrill of seeing you graduate and step into your dreams…from the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU.”

The University at Buffalo Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce that Destiny Diaz has won the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Award. The prestigious award is one of the most competitive and respected scientific fellowships in the U.S.  Diaz is completing a BS in mathematics with a minor in Spanish. Recently, Diaz received 2019 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. A Buffalo native, she is a member of the University Honors College and a Prosperity Fellow. In Fall 2019, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship will support her pursuit of graduate study in biostatistics at UB. The award provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period, which amounts to a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution.