Mentors
Nathan Shank (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)*
Nathan Shank is a Professor of Mathematics at Moravian University. Immediately after completing his PhD at Lehigh University, Dr. Shank joined the Moravian University faculty in 2006. Dr. Shank enjoys teaching all mathematics major courses as well as mathematics courses for non-math majors. His research interests include analysis, stochastic processes, probability theory, graph theory, network reliability, and combinatorial optimization. Dr. Shank's enthusiasm for learning fuels his willingness to work individually with students on research projects and special topics courses. He has led over 30 different student research projects in many areas of mathematics including interdisciplinary projects. These projects have resulted in publications in MAA Notes, Involve, Ars Combinatoria, The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, Australasian Journal of Combinatorics, and Advances in Applied Probability. He has been mentoring NSF research projects since 2009.
Eugene Fiorini (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
Eugene Fiorini is the Associate Director Emeritus for the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS-Rutgers University) and the Truman Koehler Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Muhlenberg College. Fiorini brings two decades of experience to this program with several publications on organizing and implementing REU programs. While DIMACS associate director, Fiorini managed the DIMACS/CCICADA/Rutgers Math joint REU program. He was recognized for introducing several innovations to the program that expanded the program's diversity along multiple facets: ethnic, geographic, gender, and economic. Fiorini is a regular contributor to the OEIS database publishing thirty-four sequences, many co-authored with previous REU participants. His mathematical publications appear in high-caliber journals such as Graphs and Combinatorics, Journal of Integer Sequences, Discrete Mathematics, Congressus Numerantium, Acta Applicandae, and Proteus, among others. His mathematical interests include topics in the fields of graph theory, combinatorial number theory, game theory, and experimental mathematics.
Joshua Harrington (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
Joshua Harrington received his PhD from the University of South Carolina under the advisement of Michael Filaseta in December 2013. He is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Cedar Crest College Mathematics Department. Number theory is his primary area of research, focusing on studying the irreducibility or reducibility properties of polynomials, as well as studying properties and applications of covering systems of the integers. Additional research interests extend to areas of combinatorics, algebra, and analysis. Several OEIS sequences reference two of Harrington’s recent research publications. His publication "Characterizing Finite Groups Using the Sum of the Orders of the Elements," is referenced in sequences A060014 and A060015. A second publication "Representing Integers as the Sum of Two Squares in the Ring ZnZn" is referenced in sequences A000404, A240109, and A240370.
Wing Hong Tony Wong (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
Wing Hong Tony Wong completed his B.Sc. in Mathematics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008, before earning his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology in 2013 under the supervision of Richard M. Wilson. Since then, Wong joined the Department of Mathematics at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, and is currently a Professor of Mathematics. His research interests are in combinatorics, linear algebra, and elementary number theory, with publications in high caliber journals such as the Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A and Physical Review A. Wong was a mentor in the REU Program at Muhlenberg College in 2018, and had mentored several undergraduate research projects prior to the REU program.
Brittany Shelton (22, 23, 24)
Brittany Shelton is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Albright College. She earned her B.S. in mathematics from Montclair State University (2007) as well as her M.S. (2009) and Ph.D. (2013) in mathematics from Lehigh University. Her research interests are in combinatorics, recreational mathematics, and game theory. She has mentored several undergraduate research projects at Albright and was a project mentor in the Lafayette College Summer REU Program.
Samantha Pezzimenti (24)
Samantha Pezzimenti is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Mathematics at Penn State Brandywine. She earned a B.S. in mathematics from Ramapo College of New Jersey, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Pezzimenti’s primary research interests are in topology, a branch of math that studies properties of shapes that are preserved after deformation or stretching. In particular, she studies Legendrian knots, which are knots that satisfy certain geometric conditions which restrict their shape. She also enjoys the visual and artistic side of math, and has contributed artwork to the Mathematical Art Exhibits at the Joint Mathematics Meetings and the Mathemalchemy installation. She has advised undergraduate research projects both in knot theory and recreational mathematics, with publications in the College Mathematics Journal and the Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications. She resides in Media, PA with her husband and two sons, Maxwell and Calvin.