Academics > Majors and Areas of Study > Mathematics and Computer Science > Past Commendations



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2007
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January 2007 Congratulations Graduates! This month we commend two of our students who graduated in December 2006. Daniel Hemme earned a BA in Mathematics with a minor in Accounting.  Dan's hometown is Painesville, Ohio, and he graduated from Harvey High School.  His parents are Hal Hemme and Judy Churchill, also from Painesville.   Dan credits his high school math teachers, Mr. Dayton and Mrs. Peters, for getting him interested in the study of mathematics.  He would also like to send a special thank you to two of his professors at Thiel, Dr. John Nichols and Professor David Miller, who helped him tremendously in his academic career, and made his time at Thiel an enjoyable experience. John (J.T.) Murtha double-majored to earn a BA in Actuarial Studies and Business Administration.   He also graduated with a minor in Mathematics.  J.T. is the son of Louis Murtha, Jr. and Chris Murtha from Pierpont, Ohio, and is a graduate of Conneaut High School, in Conneaut, Ohio.  J.T.'s future plans are to enter the business workforce, and also possibly to return to school for a teaching degree.  We are very proud of both Dan and J.T. and wish them both the best in their future endeavors. Top

February 2007 Welcome, Professor Kim! This month, we welcome a new faculty member to the department, Dr. Jeonghun Kim.  Jeonghun was born and grew up in Mokpo, Korea.  He earned a B.S. degree in mathematics from Chonbuk National University in Jeonju, Korea.  He also earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.   As a graduate teaching assistant at LSU, he taught College Algebra, Plane Trigonometry, Calculus I and Calculus II.  His research interest is Algebra and Algebraic Number Theory.   After completing his Ph.D., Jeonghun worked as an instructor of mathematics for a semester at LSU before joining our department here at Thiel.  On a personal note, Jeonghun enjoys swimming.  He now lives in Greenville with his wife, So Young. We are pleased to have Jeonghun as a member of the faculty, and encourage students and staff members to stop by to meet him and welcome him to Thiel. Top

March 2007 Thiel Students Participate in the Putnam Exam This month, we would like highlight three freshmen students who participated in the 67th Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. This event is an intercollegiate competition that is administered by the Mathematical Association of America. The student participants were Patrick Mitch (pictured left), Jiwon Kim (pictured right), and Di Wu (not pictured). On December 2, 2006, these dedicated students worked for 6 grueling hours to complete 12 difficult mathematical problems. We would like to commend these students for their hard work and dedication. Great job! Top

April 2007 Thiel Competes in the CMU Invitational Programming Contest This month, we commend freshmen computer science majors Adam Toohey and Josh Helmuth, for their participation in the 2007 Carnegie Mellon Invitational Programming Contest. The contest was held on March 31, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, PA. The team traveled to the competition with team coach Professor Andrew Grover, and competed in the grueling five hour programming contest against other college and university teams from the greater Pittsburgh area. This spring event was designed by CMU to allow those who have never previously competed in a formal programming contest to gain exposure to the thrill of competition. Adam and Josh gained valuable insights and skills at this event, which they can take with them to the next intercollegiate programming competition. We would like to commend these students for their hard work and dedication. Great work, Adam and Josh! Top

May 2007 Kappa Mu Epsilon Inducts New Members On Sunday, April 22, 2007, twelve new members were initiated into the Pennsylvania Rho Chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon at Thiel College, Greenville, PA.  Professor Max Shellenbarger, faculty sponsor, and Ronald Anderson, current member, served as the Masters of Ceremony.  Dr. Mervin Newton gave a talk about the use of mathematics in the solution of problems involving the space program, the United States military and actuarial studies.  The members were then initiated and the new officers inducted. Kappa Mu Epsilon is a specialized honor society in Mathematics. KME was founded in 1931 to promote the interest of mathematics among undergraduate students. Its chapters are located in colleges and universities of recognized standing which offer a strong mathematics major. The chapters' members are selected from students of mathematics and other closely related fields who have maintained standards of scholarship, have professional merit, and have attained academic distinction. The society has grown steadily since its founding and today has one hundred eighteen chapters and approximately sixty-one thousand members in thirty-four states. The new members are pictured to the left.  In the bottom row (from left to right) are Yoshitaka Homma, Punit Upadhyaya, and Adam Evans. In the middle row (from left to right) are Anna Nakashima, Michael Ryan, Anthony White, and Nicholas Scaife. In the top row (from left to right) are Kaitlyn Scherer, Kari Zeleznick, Angela Crone, and Cassandra Beck. Mike Dworakowski was also initiated, but is not pictured. Newly elected officers are: Angela Crone, president, Kaitlyn Scherer, vice president, Kari Zeleznick, recording secretary and Cassandra Beck, treasurer. Congratulations to all of the new Kappa Mu Epsilon Members! Top

June 2007 Congratulations to the Class of 2007! On May 5, 2007, the class of 2007 graduated from Thiel College. This month we salute the twenty students who earned degrees from this department. Ronald Christopher Charter Anderson graduated Summa Cum Laude with BA's in Computer Science and Mathematics, completed the Honors Program, and received a Dean's Key. Jason John Berkoben graduated with a BA in Computer Science. Geno J. Bianco graduated with a BA in Mathematics. Sarah Leigh Brich graduated Cum Laude with BA's in E-Commerce, Management Information Systems, and Web Development. Kyle David Brown graduated with BA's in Mathematics and Physics. Anthony Keith Cosentino graduated with a BA in Computer Science. Sean Jason Cote (not pictured) graduated with BA's in Actuarial Studies and Mathematics. Nicholas Andrew Hanzivasilis graduated with a BA in Mathematics. Daniel Aaron Hemme graduated with a BA in Mathematics. Abigail Marie Lubanovic graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Business Administration and an AA in Management Information Systems. Alexander Ray Miller graduated Summa Cum Laude with BA's in Accounting, Actuarial Studies, and Business Administration. He also received a Dean's Key. Ryan Michael Moore graduated Magna Cum Laude with BA's in Management Information Systems and Web Development. He also earned Departmental Honors. John Thomas Murtha (not pictured) graduated with BA's in Actuarial Studies and Business Administration. Kevin Michael Peterson graduated with a BA in Computer Science. Nicholas Dane Rhodes graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Computer Science. He also earned Departmental Honors. Benjamin Brooks Way graduated with a BA in E-Commerce. Anthony Martin White graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Mathematics. Keith Owen Williams graduated Magna Cum Laude with BA's in E-Commerce, Management Information Systems, and Web Development. He also received a Dean's Key. Mariah J. Zielinski graduated with a BA in Mathematics. Brian Timothy Zimmerman graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Computer Science and an AS in Web Development. He also earned Departmental Honors and received a Dean's Key. We proudly congratulate all of these graduates and wish them well in all of their future endeavors. Top

July 2007 Internship Experience Leads to Great Job Offer This month, we would like to congratulate 2007 graduate Sarah Brich, an MIS, Web Development, and E-Commerce major who has been hired by KPMG LLP.  KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, is a global provider of tax, audit, and advisory services.   During the summer of 2006, Sarah was an Information Risk Management intern for KPMG, working out of their Pittsburgh office.  As part of her internship, Sarah primarily worked on projects relating to Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and SAS-70s. Sarah felt that many of her classes at Thiel helped to prepare her for the work she was assigned during her internship, but listed the following courses as the most useful to her:  Fundamentals of Information Systems, Systems Analysis, Information Systems Security and Forensics, Database Management, Web Programming, and Introduction to Management.   Sarah's successful work during her internship led KPMG to offer her a full-time position as an Information Risk Management Associate in their Pittsburgh office. Sarah stated, "First, I would like to thank my dad for helping me with everything.  I would also like to thank my professors – especially those in the business and computer science departments – for completely preparing me for the workfield."   Sarah will begin her new position at KPMG in August 2007. We're extremely proud of Sarah and her accomplishments, and wish her well in her future endeavors. Congratulations, Sarah! Top

August 2007 Staying Current in Database Management This month, we highlight Professor Judith Newton for her continued dedication to teaching. Professor Newton spent time this summer taking a Chatauqua Short Course on advanced database topics. Chatauqua Short Courses are an annual series of courses offered to college professors at various colleges and universities throughout the United States. The courses are taught by scholars at the frontiers of their respective sciences and provide an opportunity for professors who teach undergraduates to gain knowledge and learn additional techniques that will help them to keep their teaching current with changes in the field. The Chatauqua Short Courses are made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Professor Newton took a Chatauqua Short Course at the University of Dayton in Ohio on June 13-15. The course was titled, "Using Access, SQL Server, and XML in your Database Course." It was taught by John Gersting from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The course examined each of the database systems, the productivity environments, and the languages of communication including Structured Query Language (SQL) and Extensible Markup Language (XML). Techniques for accessing SQL Server 2005, Access 2003, and Access 2007 databases were also covered. This included use of the Visual Studio .NET environment and the .NET 2.0 framework. Professor Newton plans to incorporate the information gained from her experience in the database course (CSCI 319 Database Management) that she will be teaching this fall term. Top

September 2007 A Warm Welcome to New Faculty Members Dr. Jie Wu joins the faculty this month as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science.  Jie was born in a city in the Hunan Province of China.  He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a Master’s degree in Economics in China before coming to the USA.  In December 2006, he earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Louisiana State University (LSU).  From 2003 to 2006, Jie worked as a teaching assistant at LSU where he taught College Algebra, Calculus I, Calculus II and Contemporary Mathematics.  His research interest is in Probability, Statistics and Actuarial Science.  Jie’s personal goal is to help students love and win the challenges from math through his teaching.  Jie now lives in Greenville with his wife, Ling, and his son, Jing. Courtney Kronk-Love also joins the faculty this month as an Adjunct Professor teaching Word Processing Applications, Spreadsheet Applications, and Database Management Applications. Courtney grew up in Rochester, PA.  She received a BS degree in Business Administration from Geneva College in 1998 and an MS degree in Business Education from Robert Morris University in 2006.  Courtney has worked as a Senior Merchandise Planning Analyst for the online division of American Eagle Outfitters, and currently teaches business classes at Cambridge Springs High School.  She is also the Technology Advisor for Cambridge Springs.  Courtney currently lives in Meadville, and on a personal note, was just married to her husband, Cory, on 7/7/07! Barbara Carothers (not pictured) will also be joining the faculty this month as an Adjunct Professor teaching College Algebra. Barbara earned a BS degree in Mathematics from Grove City College in 1988 and an MS degree in Mathematics from Youngstown State University in 2000.  She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Barbara’s dissertation will involve the study of the effects of early Algebra on student achievement in rural Pennsylvania.  Barbara also taught at Grove City Area Senior High School for 18 and a half years, and has taught for 3 years at the Penn State Shenango Campus.  Barbara has been a lifelong resident of northwestern Pennsylvania, and has five children and two granddaughters.  She also works as a professional musician. We are pleased to have Jie, Courtney, and Barbara as new members of the faculty, and encourage students and staff members to stop by to greet them and welcome them to Thiel. Top

October 2007 Professor Grover Participates in AP Reading Tests This month, we highlight Professor Andrew Grover, who was selected to participate in the annual reading and scoring of the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations in computer science this past June. The AP Program, which is annually sponsored by the College Board, gives over one million high school students the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses and examinations. Based upon their performance on the exams, students may receive credit and/or advanced placement when they begin college. The educators that are chosen to read and score the exams participate in a unique forum that fosters communication, professionalism and the exchange of ideas between high schools and colleges. The Record-Argus reports, "More than 8,000 readers from universities and high schools evaluated approximately 2.3 million examinations in 20 disciplines. Representing many of the finest academic institutions in the world, these men and women are some of the best high school and college educators in the United States, Canada and abroad." We commend Professor Grover for his participation in this event, which clearly shows his dedication to students and to teaching. Top

November 2007 Creating an Online Internship Database This month, we commend 2007 graduate Brian Zimmerman, whose work as a student intern in Thiel's IT department during the 2006-2007 school year included the development of an online internship database that was recently put into use by the college. The new searchable online database is jointly administered by the Center for Learning and Advising (CLA) and the Office of Educational Outreach. The website is available for all students and makes it easier for students to find local opportunities for internships that meet their academic interests. Brian designed and created the system using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Cold Fusion. He designed the search feature to be simple to use; all database fields are searched based on the keywords that you enter. This means that students can type in either the company name, keywords about the subject or location of the internship, or even their major such as "computer science" or "accounting." Brian also paid particular attention to the interface design, setting up the search results so that each internship item can be expanded on the same screen without any additional pop-up windows or reloading of pages. These features combine to make a very accessible and user friendly application. In addition to the database which is available to the public, Brian also created a private administration component for the administrators of the site to enter and maintain the internship information through a web interface. The system is now populated with more than 25 local and regional internship opportunities. The CLA expects to increase this number to at least 50 internships by the end of the school year. Brian graduated from Thiel in May 2007 with degrees in Computer Science and Web Development. After graduation, Brian secured a professional position in the Web Marketing and E-Commerce division of Matco Tools, where he works as a Java Web Developer. Brian is very happy in his new position and states, "I love it because I am utilizing a lot of the skills I acquired from Thiel." In addition to the searchable internship database, Brian completed another project during his internship at Thiel - a Flash-based interactive campus map - which will be launching on the Thiel web site in the near future. Keep an eye out for it! We are very proud of Brian and his accomplishments and wish him continued success. Top

December 2007 Thiel Competes at the 2007 ACM Programming Contest The 2007 intercollegiate ACM East Central Regional Programming Contest was held on Saturday, November 10, 2007.  This year, six students from Thiel competed at the Youngstown University contest site in Youngstown, OH.  The students, accompanied by team coach Professor Andrew Grover, traveled to Youngstown on November 9th to participate in a practice session.   On the morning of the 10th, the 5 hour long contest was held.  During the contest, the students worked on solutions to eight challenging programming problems, which could be solved using either the C++ or Java programming languages. The students competed in two separate three-person teams, and faced competition from 116 teams drawn from 67 colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana.  The first team included seniors Jonathan Keller and Fred Housel, and junior Laura Betz (pictured above).   The second team included sophomores Adam Toohey, Josh Helmuth, and Chad Turner (pictured below at right). Both teams made a valiant effort at solving the challenging problems, but ended up tying with 21 other teams for 92nd place.  The contest provided a way for the students to challenge themselves, have the opportunity to interact with students from other schools, and to experience the excitement of intercollegiate competition. We are extremely proud of all of our students that participated in this challenging event, and we look forward to next year’s contest. Top