Education   <-   Sean Forman   <-   You Are Here

I graduated (Spring 1994) with a B.A. in mathematics from Grinnell College (in Grinnell, Iowa). My advisor there was Tom Moore. Thinking (erroneously) that I was destined to be an engineer, I went through the 3-2 program at Grinnell. Some of this was I believe due to my growing up in a small town in western Iowa. I grew up with the belief that teaching high school and engineering are what you could do with mathematics. Clearly, I know better now.

Continuing my 3-2 program. I briefly studied mechanical engineering at Iowa State University. Engineering was OK, but rather than using much mathematics, I found that mostly all that was required was an understanding of spatial relationships and algebra. I knew engineering wasn't my cup of tea when one of my professors apologized to the members of the class for using a partial differential equation. Therefore, I woke up one morning in late November filled out my GRE application, Fed-Exed it and applied to grad school. I don't recommend giving yourself so little time.

I completed my PhD. (Fall 2001) from the University of Iowa in the Program in Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences. My PhD. thesis advisor was Alberto Maria Segre. We worked on the prediction of protein structures using a hybrid optimization technique with a full protein representation.

The U. of Iowa is in Iowa City, not Ames (that is Iowa State). Iowa City really is a wonderful place to live. It has one of the highest rate of doctors per capita, and there is a wonderful downtown (PedMall) with concerts every weekend during the summer. Trust me, it is great.

Last Modified: September 24, 2002