Special Spotlight Insert
Aceves
math passion leads to opportunities across globe
By Michael
Padilla
Math
may seem like a bunch of complicated problems and numbers for
some, but for Alejandro Aceves, professor of mathematics and
statistics, it represents an opportunity to work with people
from different countries and cultures.
It
doesnt matter where you do science and mathematics,
he said. Math is a universal language.
In his
14th year at UNM, Aceves works with national and international
researchers and scientists. He makes every attempt to bring
international students to UNM to study math.
Next semester
he will work with five undergraduates and one graduate student
as part of the Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities
program, designed to expose students to math, science and engineering.
We
will always need to reach out to our international and post-doc
students. When you work with people from other countries
you see the world in a different way.
Alejandro Aceves
A globetrotter,
Aceves has been invited to conduct research and present in various
countries including Scotland, Portugal, Germany, Canada, Italy
and Mexico. Aceves says he is most proud of delivering the prestigious
David Alcaraz Annual Lecture at the Universidad de Mexico in
2001.
My
passion comes from using math as a tool for understanding and
solving problems in science and engineering, he said.
I am particularly passionate on the applied side as it
gives me an opportunity to have interactions with scientists
and engineers in other disciplines.
His research
interests are in nonlinear optics, nonlinear wave propagation,
soliton theory, particle dynamics in accelerators and dynamical
systems. He has authored and coauthored more than 40 publications.
A UNM Regents
Lecturer from 1998-01, he received numerous awards including
best department graduate instructor twice and an outstanding
faculty award. He is active with the Consortium of the Americas
for Interdisciplinary Science at UNM.
Originally
from Mexico City, Aceves received his Ph.D. from the University
of Arizona, masters from California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, Calif., and bachelors from the Universidad
de Mexico.
He enjoys
world travel, and has three kids to prove it. Each was born
in a different country Scotland, Mexico and the U.S.
He and his wife, Adriana, a lecturer II in the UNM Mathematics
Department, joke that they can't stay in a country for more
than nine months.