Posted on May 9, 2001 at 12:30 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Rudi Weikard, Ph.D., has been named chairman of the department of mathematics in the UAB School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. His appointment is effective Aug. 15.
Weikard, a professor of mathematics with UAB since 1990, succeeds Roger Lewis, Ph.D., who has accepted a position as a program director for the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Weikard has been director of the graduate program in the department of mathematics since 1997. Gilbert Weinstein, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics, will take over as program director.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Rudi Weikard as our new chair of the department of mathematics,” said James McClintock, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. “Dr. Weikard brings to the position his outstanding reputation as a research mathematician in the area of differential equations, a strong commitment to quality teaching, and a strong history of service to his department and to the school.”
Weikard received his Ph.D. in 1987 from the Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS) in Germany and was an assistant at TUBS from 1987 through 1990. In September 1990, he came to UAB as an assistant professor. Weikard became an associate professor in 1994 and a professor in 1999. He is internationally known for his expertise in differential equations and has presented at conferences and lectured at universities all over the world on his research.
As chair, Weikard will oversee the 24-faculty-member department, made up of scholars from Australia, China, Congo, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the United States.
“When Dr. Lewis moves to Washington he will leave some big footprints to fill. I am well aware of the fact that it will be a challenge to be his successor,” Weikard said. “The mathematics department is successful and ambitious. It is my wish to help, to the best of my abilities, further its goals in developing its research and education missions. I want to use this opportunity to thank the faculty of the mathematics department for their trust and support and I am confident that in working together we can proceed along our path toward excellence.”
McClintock said Lewis will return to his professorship in the department after two years.
“Dr. Lewis has done an outstanding job leading the department of mathematics to its current level of excellence,” McClintock said. “Under his leadership the department has become among the very best in the Southeast, with half of the current faculty receiving research grants from the National Science Foundation. We all wish Dr. Lewis well in his new position.”