Julius Esunge, assistant professor of mathematics, recently received a Fulbright grant. He will teach and do research at the University of Buea in Cameroon beginning in spring 2016. An expert in stochastic analysis, Esunge blends math and statistics to assess and solve problems. As part of his Fulbright grant, Esunge will return to his undergraduate alma mater to teach probability and actuarial mathematics and lead a graduate seminar in stochastic analysis. He also will construct and compare predictive models for health care costs. Esunge joined the UMW faculty in 2009. He received a master’s degree from Lehigh University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Louisiana State University. “The opportunity to return to the University of Buea and actively mentor a new generation of students is priceless,” Esunge said. … [Read more...]
Oceanographer Knows the Gulf Stream
For Jenifer Higgins Clark ’69, going off to college meant going across the street. Her childhood home on Sunken Road had offered a panoramic view of the Mary Washington College campus - a vast playground of soft-sloping hills and stately buildings she’d spent countless hours exploring. So when Clark’s parents told her and twin sister Judith Higgins Hoye ’69 that if they wanted to go to college, they would have to attend Mary Washington as day students, she felt a tinge of disappointment. Looking back, she knows she needn’t have. Clark had developed a fascination with figures as a first-grader, tutoring math while still in grade school, so she majored in math. The math professors at Mary Washington challenged Clark and taught her to think independently, she said. They left her well prepared for graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and, later, for a longtime career as a satellite oceanographer. After graduation, Clark landed her first job with the Naval … [Read more...]