Education
- Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2001
- Third order mock theta functions for multivariable symplectic hypergeometric series, advised by Dr.
Stephen Milne
- M.S., The Ohio State University, 2001
- B.A., The College of Wooster, 1992 with honors
Teaching Experience
- The College of Wooster, Visiting Assistant Professor, 2001-present
- At Wooster, I have taught Calculus I and II using Maple labs to supplement
the text and encourage independent exploration. I have used writing as a
method of concept internalization in the Department's Math in Contemporary
Society Course. The course is designed for non-math majors and covers a wide
range of topics. In addition, I tried a problem-oriented approach to teaching
a combinatorics course for majors which covers aspects of enumeration and
graph theory. In the spring of 2002, I taught a course on Cryptology, the
study of disguising information, which I designed; I have been asked by students
to offer it this spring. This fall I am teaching Calculus II and Discrete
Math.
In addition to these courses, I have advised seven Independent Study(IS) projects
exploring such topics as Game Theory, Hidden Markov Models, Fractal Brownian
Motion, and the Advanced Encryption Standard. This year I am advising four IS
projects. My students are exploring the Mandelbrot set, Fibonacci numbers and
recurrence relations, real-time simulation of smoke in 3D, and the P=NP conjecture.
- The Ohio State University, Graduate Teaching Associate and Lecturer, 1992-2001
- At Ohio State I served as a teaching assistant for all pre-calculus and
calculus courses. I used a wide range of teaching styles including cooperative
learning, small group exercises, and student presentations. I also served
as the instructor for most of the pre-calculus and calculus sequences, experimenting
with the same range of teaching styles. In addition, I served as a tutor
for the Athletic Department and as a tutor for the university wide Extended
Instruction program.
Professional Development
- Activities
- Gave a 10 minute talk at MathFest 2004 (the national summer meeting of the MAA), Providence, RI, August 13, 2004. The talk addressed the design and use of short writing assignments, based on mathematical quotations, in a liberal arts mathematics course.
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- Gave a 10 minute talk at MathFest 2004, Providence, RI, August 12, 2004. The talk addressed the use of the AiM (Assessment in Mathematics) system for administering on-line quizzes in mathematics courses.
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- Attended sessions at MathFest 2004, Providence, RI, August 12-14, 2004. I focused on sessions discussing the use of writing to facilitate the learning of mathematics and sessions discussing the use of the Web and technology in the effective teaching of mathematics.
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- Organized a panel session for Project NExT fellows discussing on-line assessment at MathFest 2003, Boulder, CO, July 31-August 2, 2003.
- Attended sessions at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January , 2003.
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- Participated in an MAA mini-course, Making Liberal Arts Mathematics the Most Important Course Students Take to Learn Effective Thinking, lead by Michael Starbird and Edward B. Burger, at MathFest 2002, Burlington, VT, August 1-3, 2002.
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- Participated in an MAA mini-course, Music and Mathematics, lead by Leon Harkleroad, at MathFest 2002, Burlington, VT, August 1-3, 2002.
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- Participated in an MAA short course, A Sampler of Applications of Graph Theory, lead by Fred S. Roberts, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA, January 4-5, 2002.
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- Invited colloquium talk, An introduction to hypergeometric and basic hypergeometric series through extensions of the Binomial Theorem, The College of Wooster, April 2000.
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- Supported participant in the AMS-IMS-SIAM Summer Research Conferences: q-Series,
Combinatorics, and Computer Algebra, Mt. Holyoke, Massachusetts, July 21-25,
1998.
- Memberships
- Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
- TeX Users Group (TUG)
- Web Special Interest Group of the MAA (WebSIGMAA)
Research
- Publications
- J. Breitenbucher. LaTeX at a liberal arts college The PracTeX Journal, Number 3. July, 2005.
- J. Breitenbucher. Why should a college student use LaTeX? The PracTeX Journal, Number 1. January, 2005
- J. Strecker, D. Byrnes, and J. Breitenbucher. The Simulated Annealing Group Assignment (SAGA) Application. Proceedings of the Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and Mathematics, October, 2003.
- Grants and Fellowships
- Presidential Grant: February, 2005.
- Mellon Foundation Collaboration with Technology Grant: January-May, 2003.
- Department of Mathematics Fellowship, The Ohio State University: June-August, 2000.
- Supported by NSA grant MDA 904-97-1-0019: June-August, 1997, 1998, 1999.
- Department of Education Fellowship: June-August, 1994.
- Interests
- Mock theta functions, multiple basic hypergeometric series, special functions, graph theory, and cryptology.
- The use of the Web and writing in mathematics instruction.
Honors and Awards
- Selected as an ExxonMobil Project NExT Fellow for 2002-2003.
Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences who are interested in improving the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics. On average seventy fellows are selected each year.
- Finalist for the Department of Mathematics' Teaching Award, The Ohio State University, 2000.
- Finalist for the Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Associates, The Ohio State University, 1997.
- Phi Beta Kappa, The College of Wooster, 1991 (on junior standing).
Service
- Professional
- Reviewer for the PracTeX Journal.
- Co-organizer for the Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and Mathematics 2005.
- Co-organizer for the Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and Mathematics 2004.
- Served as a referee for the Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing Conference 2004.
- Served on the Program Committee of the Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and Mathematics 2003.
- Served as a referee for the Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing Conference 2003.
- Institutional
- Member of Next Generation System Committee, The College of Wooster, Summer 2004-present.
- Member of Campus Council, The College of Wooster, Spring 2003-present.
- Serving on Budget Committee (2003-04 and 2004-05).
- Serving on Club Sports Council (2003-04 [Chair] and 2004-05 [Chair]).
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Vice President of Kappa of Ohio, April, 2005-present.
- Member of the Council of Kappa of Ohio, 2002-May, 2005.
- Adviser for the Wooster Student Chapter of the MAA, The College of Wooster, 2002-present.
- Edited and redesigned the student newsletter.
- Served on the First Year Forum Committee, The College of Wooster, Spring 2004.
- Served on the Publications Committee, The College of Wooster, 2002-2003.
- Student representative to the Department of Mathematics' Graduate Studies Committee, The Ohio State University, 1998-1999.
Contact Me
Please contact me by e-mail: jbreitenbuch@wooster.edu
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