Jason G. Douma

Associate Professor of Mathematics

Natural Sciences Area Chair

Department  of Mathematics and Computer Science

University of Sioux Falls

1101 West 22^nd Street

Sioux Falls, South Dakota  57105

 

Voice:                     (605) 331-6750

Fax:                        (605) 331-6615

Office:                     Salsbury Science Center 116

Email:                      jason.douma@usiouxfalls.edu

 

Other Recent Classes

College Algebra Recitation Resources

USF Honors Program

Look here for more information about the USF Honors Program, including a printable application.

Coming soon...a resource page with events and opportunities for current USF honors students.

A Few Words About Who I Am    (only a few, lest I bore you to tears)

Some folks develop an interest in mathematics after witnessing its power or its utility in modeling the things we sense,

experience, or observe.  Others, like me, are drawn irresistibly to its beauty and elegance.  I love mathematics just as a

poet loves poetry or a musician loves music.  Don't get me wrong: I do value the wealth of insight we obtain from

mathematical models and applications.  (How else could I avoid exile from the Natural Sciences Area at USF?)  Still, if

all of its utility somehow vanished or washed away, mathematics--to me--would still have the power to move my spirit.

Biographically, I am a native Minnesotan and a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College (mathematics major; music minor). 

In graduate school at Northwestern University, I studied group theory and algebraic topology under Stewart Priddy. 

I have been at the University of Sioux Falls since 1998.  I still maintain some research interests in group theory and

representation theory, and have also begun to develop some research interest in the philosophy of mathematics,

game theory, and a few miscellaneous topics of local interest.

More professional biographical information is included in my vita.

My wife, Kathie (also a Gustie), is the Director of Children's Ministries at First Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls. 

Daughter Cecilia and son Elliot fill out the family picture.

Resources for Mathematics Students at USF

• Department of Mathematics and Computer Science homepage (coming soon)
• information on the Mathematics Major, Mathematics Education Major, and Mathematics Minor
• Information on the Applied Mathematics (Pre-Engineering) Major
• Information on the Computer Science and Computer Information Systems Major
• the USF Math Center for drop-in tutoring
• course offerings

Resources for all Mathematicians (and Mathematicians at Heart)

• the Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
• our regional section of the MAA: Mathematical Association of America / North Central Section
• the American Mathematical Society (AMS)
• the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics (CSHPM)
• MathSciNet, containing the reviews of mathematical journal publications
• the Mathematical Atlas
• an impressive set of links related to the Foundations of Mathematics and related philosophical matters
• Group Theory and Generalizations from the Mathematical Atlas
• GAP system freeware for group theory
• the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences (ACMS)
• the Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota
• the king of all history of mathematics resources, MacTutor
• some recreational mathematics and math humor at Mathematrix, maintained by Lee Stemkoski of Dartmouth University

Other Stuff

• quality programming from National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, and South Dakota Public Radio
• cheer for the Minnesota Twins today
• a listing of (and links to) almost all four-year colleges and universities in the U.S.
• information from academia in the Chronicle of Higher Education
• refreshing folk music from Sons of the Never Wrong
• events and exhibits at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences

The fascinating image at the top of this page is a representation of Thomas Banchoff's "Flat Torus in the Three-Sphere."

More information on this and other interesting geometric and topological objects is available from the Geometry Center

at the University of Minnesota.