January 04, 2010
Pursuing Mathematics as a career was a natural for David
Rosenthal, Ph.D. Several family members had preceded him into the
field and throughout his childhood he was frequently exposed to
their love and enthusiasm for the subject.
Their passion of mathematics is now his too—his face lights up as
he discusses topology, his area of expertise—and over the next six
months he will be working with leading scholars in the field at the
University of Muenster in Germany thanks to a coveted Fulbright Scholar
grant.
This month, Dr. Rosenthal will join Professor Dr. Wolfgang Lueck’s
Topology Group at the University of Muenster to conduct research on
that subject. He is not unfamiliar with the German university,
having lectured there after earning his doctorate and spending
several summers there as well.
“Wolfgang Lueck is one of the world’s leading topologists and one
of Germany’s top mathematicians,” the St. John’s mathematics
professor points out. “He is the 2008 recipient of the Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany’s most prestigious scientific award.
Over the past several years, the Topology group in Muenster, headed
by Professor Dr. Lueck, has made significant breakthroughs in this
area of mathematics. It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to
contribute to the advancement of our field.”
Pure Mathematics
Topology, the new Fulbright Scholar explains, “is the study of
those properties of spaces that are unaffected by shrinking or
twisting or other continuous deformations. The classic quote is
that topologists cannot tell the difference between a doughnut and
a coffee cup, because if you think of each of them as being made
out of putty, then you can deform one into the other without
ripping or tearing.”
Dr. Rosenthal was pleased to have had the opportunity to teach a
class in topology to Math majors last year. “Of course,” he laughs,
“it’s pure mathematics—abstract—but I really want students to see
it, to think logically, to look at the patterns. Hopefully it
excites them.” While he hopes to be able to teach it again, he has
plenty of other courses on his plate. During the recently completed
fall semester, he taught core Math courses including University
Calculus 3 for sophomores and a Statistics course for Pharmacy
students.
The Global Perspective
Like everyone in the St. John’s community, Dr. Rosenthal is
thinking globally these days and he is already pondering the ways
he might bring the global perspective back to his students in New
York City.
“Germany has a great history of mathematics. I would definitely
love to bring some of the researchers I work with in Muenster to
St. John’s to give lectures at different levels—basic to very
complex. I also hope to share the overall experience with my
students. I see this as an opportunity to create a connection, to
build relationships in Muenster that might facilitate study abroad
opportunities for St. John’s students in the future. After all, St.
John’s students are becoming known for that. It’s no longer a
question of ‘if’ they will study abroad but ‘when’.”
The Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Scholar Program was established in 1946 in the United
States under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William
Fulbright of Arkansas. The program was created to “build mutual
understanding between the people of the United States and the rest
of the world” and supports the research of U.S. faculty and other
professionals who travel to a wide variety of countries each
year.
Following is a list of researchers who were awarded the prestigious
Fulbright while at St. John’s University:
Dr. Frank Biafora
Dr. Tony H. Bonaparte
Dr. Elaine Carey
Dr. Frank Coppa
Dr. Jefferson Fish
Dr. Almerinda Forte
Dr. Willard Gingerich
Dr. Michael Hostetler
Dr. Flora Keshishian
Dr. Frederick Lang
Dr. Francis Lees
Dr. Anna Licari-LaGrassa
Dr. Senshang Lin
Dr. Susan Lushing
Dr. Greg Maertz
Dr. Mary Ann Maslak
Dr. Stephen Paul Miller
Dr. Jay Nathan
Dr. James O’Keefe
Dr. David Rosenthal
Dr. Konrad Tuchscherer
Dr. Laura Snyder
Dr. James Vorbach
Dr. Charles Wankel
Dr. Robin Wellington
Dr. Roger V. Wetherington
Dr. Zheng Zhou
Founded in 1870, St. John’s University is one of America’s leading
Catholic institutions of higher education. St. John’s has three
residential campuses in New York City, a campus in Oakdale, NY, and
in Rome, Italy and Paris, France. More than 20,000 full- and
part-time students from across the country and around the world
pursue their undergraduate and graduate degrees at St. John’s.