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Donna Sylvester, PhD

Professor Emerita

Biography

Dr. Sylvester earned a B.S. from Bethany College and a M.A. and PhD. from Duke University. She has been on faculty at Seattle University since 1990. Her research has focused on projects in the area of partial differential equations with physical or, more recently, epidemiological applications.  She has held the Arline F. Bannan Chair of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and participated in the NSF-sponsored  Research Experiences for Undergraduate Faculty.  She currently serves as a member of the NSF-sponsored SU ADVANCE team.  In the past, Dr. Sylvester has served as the Department Chair, a member of Faculty Senate, as interim Associate Dean for the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) , as the Chair of the College Personnel Committee, and as Scheduler for CSE.

Research Interest

Applications of Partial Differential Equations

Education

  • Duke University, Ph.D. In Mathematics, 1988
  • Duke University, M.A. in Mathematics, 1985
  • Bethany College, B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science, 1983

Courses Taught

  • MATH 1334: Calculus I, MATH 1335: Calculus II, MATH 3420: Advanced Linear Algebra, MATH 3430: Introduction to Complex Variables, MATH 4440: Applied Fourier Analysis

Publications

  • Glenn Ledder, Donna Sylvester, Rachelle R. Bouchat, Johann A. Thiel. "Continuous and Pulsed Epidemiological Models for Onchocerciasis with implications for Eradication Strategy." Mathematical Biosciences & Engineering, 2018, 15 (4) : 841-862. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2018038
  • S. Ding, G. Shi, & D. Sylvester, "Higher Order Embeddings for the Composition of the Harmonic Projection and Homotopy Operators." (submitted 2016)