"Max is a world-class mathematician, an international figure in research and (he's) really good in developing students."

—DeWitt Sumners,
Math Department Chair

Max Gunzburger

Francis Eppes Professor
Department of Mathematics

The opportunity to help Florida State become a leader in applied computer science and mathematics lured him to campus in 2002. Gunzburger stepped down as chair of Iowa State University's math department to become an Eppes professor and researcher in Tallahassee. He works with both the mathematics department and the School of Computational Science (SCS; formerly CSIT, the School of Computational Science and Information Technology).

"Max is a world-class mathematician, an international figure in research and (he's) really good in developing students," said DeWitt Sumners, math department chair.

Using math to solve real-world problems is what excites Gunzburger. His specialty is devising algorithms to understand problems in fluid mechanics, acoustics and superconductivity. Among other things, his research may eventually lead to improved fuel efficiency for aircraft.

"We take meaningful phenomena and use computers in a really big way to solve problems," said Gunzburger. "An algorithm is a recipe. What we do is develop software to see if our recipe is better than existing recipes that computers use."

Since joining the faculty in August, 2002, Gunzburger has focused on developing a group of computational mathematicians of the first rank. Among his goals is to start a graduate degree program at SCS.

"I plan on helping SCS become the best computational science entity in the country," said Gunzburger. "Here, you have the resources to get something done. FSU will be the premier university in this field in the Southeast."

Max Gunzburger is a Francis Eppes Professor in the math department and a researcher in the School of Computational Science and Information Technology. In addition to Iowa State University, Gunzburger taught at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Tennessee and New York University. He received his doctorate in 1969 from New York University.