Meet the YSU Bump Team
Dr. Emily Hoopes-Boyd
Dr. Emily Hoopes-Boyd received her PhD in Pure Mathematics from Kent State University in 2021. She is currently working as an assistant professor of mathematics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Lake Erie College (LEC) in Painesville, Ohio. Her research interests have been focused mainly on noncommutative ring theory, matrix theory, and polynomial identities. At LEC, she has taught a wide variety of courses, from the precalculus sequence to upper division classes such as linear algebra, modern geometry, and history of mathematics, and she has guided 2 undergraduate students with their senior research projects.
Dr. Cryshanna A Jackson Leftwich
Dr. Cryshanna A. Jackson Leftwich is a Professor of Public Affairs and Politics at Youngstown State University where she also serves as the Program Coordinator of the Political Science Program. Her research interests focus on anti-racism, social equity, cultural competence, and gender equality. Since joining the faculty at YSU Dr. Jackson has served on numerous committees.
Dr. Jackson Leftwich has published several articles in the Journal of Public Management & Social Policy and has also published two book chapters in edited volumes of academic books. Along with her research interests she has worked on the evaluation of a number of federally funded grants. Dr. Jackson Leftwich currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the YWCA of Mahoning Valley, whose mission aims to eliminate racism and empower women.
Dr. Jackson Leftwich has been awarded numerous honors and distinctions during her tenure at Youngstown State University including, Distinguished Professor of Service, Distinguished Professor of Teaching, Diva of Distinction for Educational Leadership, YWCA Board Member of the Year Award, Greater Akron Regional Chamber, 30 for the Future Award Recipient, 2011 Athena Award Nominee, and Educator of the Year.
She received her Bachelor of Science from Miami University in Health and Sport Studies, her Master of Science degree from West Virginia University in Sport Management and her PhD from the University of Akron in Public Affairs and Urban Studies.
Dr. G. Jay Kerns
Dr. Jay Kerns received his PhD in Statistics from Bowling Green State University in 2004. He is currently working as a professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Youngstown State University, where he also serves as the Graduate Coordinator and works closely with the YSU Data Mine. His research interests have been focused mainly on probability theory, data visualization and analytics, and statistical methods in exchangeability. At YSU, he has taught statistics at all levels from introductory to graduate level, and is completing his second year supervising 8 teams on the YSU Data Mine on topics ranging from carbon emission reductions to traffic pattern analysis to autonomous vehicle performance.
Dr. Lucy Kerns
Dr. Lucy Kerns received her PhD in Statistics from Bowling Green State University in 2006. She is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Youngstown State University, where she also serves as the Statistics Coordinator and co-director of the Mathematical and Statistical Consulting Center. Her research interests have been focused mainly on simultaneous inferential techniques, environment risk assessment and environmental toxicology, and robust statistical methods. At YSU, she has taught statistics at all levels from introductory to graduate level, and has supervised 10 graduated students and guided 5 undergraduate students with their projects.
Dr. Thomas Madsen
Dr. Thomas Madsen is an Associate Professor at Youngstown State University. He received his PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Oklahoma in 2014. Dr. Madsen loves studying and teaching mathematics at all levels. For students studying pure mathematics one can get the impressions that mathematics is all about taking classes. One can feel a long way from doing any level of research. Dr. Madsen believes that an early exposure to mathematical research can help generate and maintain an interest in mathematics and he hopes that this REU will energize and excite younger students into the world of mathematics.
Dr. Alicia Prieto Langarica
Dr. Prieto is a professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Youngstown State University. She was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Dr. Prieto completed her undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2008 and her Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2012. Dr. Prieto love working with students in and outside the classroom and on her research, she is interested in using mathematics to better understand problems in medicine, society and education.
Dr. Padraic Taylor
Dr. Padraic Taylor is currently an associate professor at Youngstown State University, where he has been working in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics since the fall 2006 semester. He earned his PhD in May 2006 from North Carolina State University, under the guidance of Dr. Jesus Rodriguez. His dissertation was titled ``On the Solvability of Nonlinear Discrete Multipoint Boundary Problems." This work involves finding a link between the nonlinear problem and the solution space of the associated linear problem by using a projection scheme known as the Lyapunov-Schmidt technique. Dr. Taylor has guided over 38 students through senior capstone projects, Master's Theses, group poster projects, and individual research projects. All of these projects have resulted in presentations at local, regional, or national conferences; with several students winning awards for the quality of their work and presentations. Except for the senior projects and Master's Theses, the majority of Dr. Taylor's experience mentoring undergraduates has been with freshmen in his ``Accelerated Honors Calculus" course or research teams mixed with freshmen and upperclassmen as part of the Choose Ohio First Scholarship program. Some of the successes of these freshmen include an award winning oral presentation at MAA MathFest in Washington, D.C. in August 2015; an award winning poster presentation at the Northeast Ohio Choose Ohio First Research Poster Conference at Kent State University in spring 2016; two separate teams of freshmen earning ``Meritorious" (approximately top 8%) honors in COMAP's international mathematical modeling competition (spring 2014, spring 2019); and a team of freshmen earning an ``Outstanding" award at SCUDEM in October 2018 at Slippery Rock University.
Dr. Thomas Wakefield
Tom Wakefield is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at YSU. His interest in research began during his undergraduate years at YSU, where he conducted research with a mathematics faculty member and participated in an REU in industrial mathematics and statistics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He earned a PhD in pure mathematics from Kent State University and joined the faculty of Youngstown State in 2009. Tom has advised numerous research projects in algebra, operations research, actuarial science, and other areas.