In addition to my research and teaching interests, I participate in a number of other activities around the University and in the community. I'm always looking for ways to get involved, so feel free to contact me about any of these things.
Resources
- Card and board games
- The connection between games and mathematics is one of my favorite arm-chair topics.
- GenCon, the best four days in gaming.
- Killer Bunnies, a fun family-oriented card game.
- Mayfair Games, makers of Settlers of Catan.
- Cryptography
- Cryptography is one of the richest interdisciplinary areas of mathematics for undergraduates. Historically, cryptography and code-breaking played a key part in WWII. Ethically and politically, cryptography and code-breaking pose challenges that are still unresolved. Mathematically, the most famous cryptographic schemes are easily approachable by students with a college level calculus course, and cryptographic functions can be implemented even by relatively new programmers.
- Dayton Codebreakers. This site contains information about NCR's involvement in breaking the German Naval Enigma code during WWII. This work was classified for 50 years, and only released during the Clinton administration. Many authors of books on the Enigma appear to be unaware of the role played by the Americans.