Veteran mathematician joins, leads MSU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
Mississippi State University has named Christian Wolf as the new head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, bringing more than two decades of teaching, research and leadership experience to the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Wolf joins MSU from the City University of New York, where he held dual appointments as a professor of mathematics at the City College of New York (CCNY) and at the CUNY Graduate Center. Most recently, he led CUNY’s doctoral program in mathematics as executive officer, overseeing more than 100 faculty members and approximately 80 Ph.D. students. He previously chaired CCNY’s Department of Mathematics for five years and served as graduate advisor for three years.
“I was initially drawn to the position at MSU because of the high caliber of the faculty's work, the broad range of research areas they are engaged in and the department’s excellence in teaching,” Wolf said. “MSU is a leading public Carnegie R1 research university, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics plays an important role in fulfilling that mission, which is highly attractive to me.”
Wolf said, “I’m truly honored and excited to be selected as the department head of mathematics and statistics at MSU. The department has long been recognized for its strong commitment to excellence in research and teaching across a wide range of mathematical and statistical fields. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of its journey and look forward to working together with our faculty, staff and students to continue enhancing excellence in research, learning, and collaboration.”
With 24 years of classroom experience across undergraduate and graduate levels, Wolf has introduced innovative approaches to instruction, including digital learning in large lectures.
“At the core of this vision is a commitment to student success and to fostering a culture of collaboration in which every member of the department actively contributes,” he said. “I am highly motivated to have the greatest possible impact on the education and lives of our students.”
A native of Munich, Germany, Wolf earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Technical University of Munich in 1999. He holds a diploma in mathematics—equivalent to a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree—from the University of Munich.
An accomplished scholar, Wolf’s work focuses on dynamical systems—the study of the unpredictability of systems that change under time evolution—with applications in computability theory, statistical physics and mathematical biology. His research has been published in leading international journals, including Advances in Mathematics; Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems; and Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. His work has been supported by the German Research Association, NSF-EPSCoR, and the Simons Foundation.
For more information about MSU's College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.math.msstate.edu.
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