My primary research interests are in computational mathematics, specifically in the interface between statistics and optimization. I have directed and co-directed William & Mary students in summer research projects and senior honors theses. I have also been a faculty mentor in the REU program Matrix Analysis and Its Applications that is administered each summer by the Department of Mathematics and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Most of my research involves a synthesis of mathematical theory and computational experimentation. For this reason, I usually recruit students who are adept at both and attempt to blend the two activities according to the student's interests and abilities. Some examples follow.

A Study of the Stationary Configurations of the SStress Criterion for Metric Multidimensional Scaling
is a 2000 technical report that summarizes my collaboration with Sam Malone, an undergraduate at Duke University who participated in our 1999 REU program. The complete citation is: Technical Report 00-06, Department of Computational & Applied Mathematics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005.

Interpolation and Pseudorandom Function Generation
is Anthony Padula's senior honors thesis. Tony graduated in May, 2000, and is now a graduate student in the Department of Computational & Applied Mathematics at Rice University. His software for generating pseudorandom functions is available for noncommercial use.

REU Projects, Summer 2000

On the Diagonal Scaling of Squared Distance Matrices to Doubly Stochastic Matrices
is the final report written by Robert Masson, an undergraduate at McGill University who participated in our 2000 REU program. Please note that the version currently posted does not include the figures to which the text alludes. This report led to a co-authored paper.

Computational Experiments with Stochastic Approximation
is Paul Goger's senior honors thesis. Paul graduated in May, 2001, and now works for Metron.