Faculty &Staff
Staff:
Michelle Hampton (secretary)
I grew up in the Birmingham area and graduated from University of Alabama at Birmingham with a marketing degree. While I was in college, I met my husband and he introduced me to everything outdoors. I have become an adventurous person and love to camp, canoe, raft, scuba dive, hike, etc. I was hired by Birmingham-Southern College in 1996 and now work in two departments with the Mathematics faculty and in the Southern Environmental Center. Email: mhampton@bsc.edu
Faculty:
Jeffrey Barton (Assistant
Professor)
Number theory, approximation theory.
I was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, moved to Houston, Texas, when
I was nine, and returned to Baton Rouge to attend college at Louisiana
State University. At LSU I completed a double major in mathematics
and English, with an emphasis in creative writing. Early in my undergraduate
experience I knew that I wanted to be a college professor, and in
the end I decided to pursue an academic career in mathematics. I
graduated from LSU in 1992 and entered graduate school that same
year at the University of Texas at Austin. Seven long, arduous years
later I finished my Ph.D. in mathematics and accepted a position
here at
Birmingham-Southern College. My research interests lie in approximation
theory with applications in number theory. Email: jbarton@bsc.edu
Bernadette Mullins (Associate Professor)-
Abstract algebra.
Although my mother was English and my father was Irish, I grew up
in Canada and the midwest. I dabbled in biology at Western Illinois
University until I took calculus and got hooked on mathematics. I
headed on to the University of Iowa for graduate school where I fell
for commutative ring theory. I spent a few years on the faculty at
Youngstown State University in Ohio before finding my academic home
here at Birmingham-Southern College. I love teaching and thinking
about mathematics (especially extensions of commutative rings and
questions about factorization). Other favorites include music, traveling,
dark beer, kayaking, hiking, movies and eating food that other people
cook. E-mail: bmullins@bsc.edu
Douglas Riley (Assistant Professor) -
Real analysis, numerical analysis.
I was born in South Dakota, moved to North Dakota as an infant (where, according to my father, "The wind blows so hard it makes your hair hurt") and have spent the rest of my life trying to move south. The first stop on my trip south was Greencastle, Indiana where I grew up and also attended college at DePauw University. At DePauw, I double majored in Mathematics and Computer Science, minored in Philosophy, and was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. (Now, whenever I write du/dx in calculus class, I think of my fraternity, DU is on top! (at least in du/dx)). Also at DePauw, I met my future wife, although she was dating someone else at the time.
After college I spent two years working for General Motors and discovered (surprise surprise) that I liked academic life better. Also, by this time, my future wife figured out that I was a better catch than her other guy. Thus I quit my job, got married, bought my first home, started graduate school, and moved to Lexington Kentucky, all in a period of about a month! Overall, I loved my time at UK (go cats!) and spent a total of six years in Lexington getting my PhD in Mathematics. (I probably could have finished my degree earlier, but I learned how to play Bridge and its much more tempting to play Bridge than to do mathematical research, although mathematical research is also kinda fun.)
Now I have continued, and perhaps ended, my trek south with the move to Birmingham, Alabama. I started at Birmingham-Southern College in the fall of 1999, and am beginning to understand the culture. My wife says that although I still sound like a Yankee, I have started to pick up some southern phrases. If y'all get a chance, come on by and visit. I can be found in Olin 107 most days. Email: driley@bsc.edu
Barry S. Spieler (Associate Professor) -
Topology, geometric group theory.
A native of Long Island, New York, I majored in mathematics at Tufts
University in Boston. After completing my MS and PhD at Ohio State,
I moved to Nashville, where I taught for two years at Vanderbilt
University. I joined the faculty at Birmingham-Southern in 1994.
It is a joy to spend my days with smart, interesting young people,
who so generously share their energy and ideas and four of their
best years. My favorite mathematical topics include topology, geometry,
and group
theory, and I especially enjoy the interplay between mathematical
ideas and the arts. I often think I am too right-brained to be a
mathematician, but somehow it all works out. When I'm not loitering
in a coffeehouse, I can probably be found at home baking bread or
playing with my two sons, Gabriel and Daniel. E-mail: bspieler@bsc.edu
Mary Jane Turner (Instructor) -
Mathematics education.
Mary Jane is from Birmingham. She received a BS degree in mathematics
from the University of Montevallo and a MA degree in mathematics
education from UAB. Mary Jane worked for the Birmingham Board of
Education as a teacher and chairman of the mathematics department
at Banks High School. She also taught at Jefferson State Community
College and has been on the faculty at Birmingham Southern since
1990. Mary Jane currently serves in a dual appointment in Mathematics,
where she teaches various math courses, and in Education, where she
teaches secondary education methods and coordinates secondary student
interns. She is married to Bill who is Traffic Manager for Birmingham
Steel Corporation. They have two children, Tim (a BSC graduate) and
Danica.
E-mail: mturner@bsc.edu