Congratulations to Dr. Irena Lasiecka, distinguished university professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics who has been selected as a 2015 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Dr. Lasiecka joins Bela Bolllobas and Jerome Goldstein from the Mathematics Department who have been recognized as AMS fellows in prior years. The Fellows of the American Mathematical Society program recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics. The society recognized Dr. Lesiecka for her contributions to control theory of partial differential equations (PDEs), mentorship, and service to professional societies. More information on this prestigious honor can be found on the American Mathematical Society website.  (http://www.ams.org/profession/ams-fellows/ams-fellows)

Dr. Lasiecka’s induction into the AMS Fellows program represents one of the many national and international honors she has received for her research on PDEs and related control theory. She received the 2011 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics W.T. Idalia Reid Prize for contribution to differential equations and control theory and the 2004 Institute for Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) Fellow for contribution to boundary control theory. She was in the original Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) list of the 250 most highly cited mathematicians worldwide. She has been key note speaker at five national and international conferences since joining the University of Memphis in August 2013. Finally in 2013 while on faculty at the University of Virginia, she was recognized as one of the Top 26 Women Professors in Virginia.

Dr. Lasiecka has advised twenty-four Ph.D. students and fifteen postdocs who have pursued successful research careers academia, the private sector, and governmental sectors. As chair of the mathematics department, she hopes to use the strong research reputations of her faculty to bring more attention to the graduate program in mathematics at the University of Memphis and to grow external funding for graduate students. Additionally, she hopes to strengthen the interdisciplinary connections between math, computer science, physics, and the Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS). The University of Memphis is proud to have Dr. Lasiecka as a member of our faculty.

The Department of Human Resources, Organization, and Employee Development at the University of Memphis is making a big impact on the community. In keeping with the President’s community service initiative, Human Resources has launched its first Minority Male Initiative. The initiative will feature a series of workshops to give minority men at both the University and in the Memphis community opportunities for networking, leadership development, career enhancement, and career development.

The Department held its first workshop on October 28th entitled, “Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.” The workshop featured presentations from Shannon Brown, Chief Human Resources and Diversity Officer from FedEx; Robert White, Chief of Staff for the City of Memphis; Dr. Wesley Fox, Department Head of Business and Legal Studies at Southwest Tennessee Community College; and Lonnie Latham, retired Associate Dean of Multicultural Affairs for the University of Memphis. Sixty-one people attended the event and sixty percent of attendees came from the community. Attendees who were currently unemployed had an opportunity for one-on-one mentoring with workshop leaders.

The next workshop is planned for December 9th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in the University Center Bluff Room (room 304). The workshop will feature information on dressing for success, resume writing, preparing for interviews, and interview follow-up. Additional workshops are planned for 2015, and the Department hopes to reach an even broader community of minority males in future workshops.

Iliana Ricelli, senior director in the Department, explains that “this is a Human Resources initiative, but the HR Department could not have done this alone.” The Diversity Initiatives Office of the University of Memphis has been instrumental in providing support to sustain this programming. The University of Memphis appreciates the work of the Department of Human Resources, Organization, and Employee Development and its impact on our community.

When Patsy Whitehorn Krech entered the University of Memphis forty-five years ago, she didn’t know that she would be the first in a long line of Tigers. Patsy, the oldest of five siblings, was the first in her family to attend college. Although Patsy’s father had only a sixth grade education, he believed in the importance of a college education and instilled that value in his five children. Patsy graduated from the University of Memphis with her degree in English and secondary education in 1973. Over the next ten years, her siblings Michael, Linda, Tim, and Kristy followed in her footsteps finishing degrees in accounting, social work, math, business, and fashion merchandising.

Both Patsy Krech and her younger brother Tim Whitehorn found that the University of Memphis provided them the opportunity to receive an excellent education close to home. Patsy explains that the University of Memphis “brought out strengths in her that she didn’t realize she had.” For Tim, his undergraduate degree in math and Master of Business Administration led him “to places in his career that he never dreamed” he would achieve. For Tim, the University of Memphis provided him the opportunity to remain close to his aging parents while receiving an excellent education, working at FedEx, and playing on the University’s national champion handball team.

Patsy and her four younger siblings started a University of Memphis tradition that extends into the next generation. Patsy’s daughter, Emily Krech Mayne, graduated in 2004 with an undergraduate degree in theatre and is currently completing a graduate degree in speech language pathology. Emily’s degree in theatre afforded her the opportunity to complete an internship at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, a Tony Award winning Best Regional Theatre. Emily’s current program in speech language pathology is giving her the opportunity to gain research-based knowledge and apply it to practical experience in an internship.

Andrew Gafford, Patsy’s nephew, graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a concentration in film and video production. Andrew notes that despite University of Memphis’ reputation as an underdog that doesn’t have all the “bells and whistles of a bigger program,” he is now finding that he received an excellent education that well prepared him for the job market in his chosen field. Andrew explains that his faculty and fellow students in the film concentration created a collaborative environment that nurtured his growth into an excellent filmmaker and critical thinker. He is now working freelance in films, commercials, and music videos in New York City.

Patsy reports that the Tiger tradition is carrying on as one of her nephews is considering the University of Memphis. Patsy is proud that she has been able to use her degrees to come back to the University as director of advising for the College of Arts & Sciences. The University of Memphis is proud to have dreamers, thinkers, and doers like the Krech/Whitehorn family.