John R. Ramsay

Department/Affiliation: Mathematics and Computer Science
Phone: 330-263-2579
Office Address: 306 Taylor
Email: jramsay@wooster.edu

Degrees

• B.A., Berea 1980
• M.S., University of Wisconsin Madison 1984
• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin Madison 1987

Director of AMRE. AMRE is a summer consulting and research program that pairs student teams with a business, industry or research opportunity.

Associate Dean of Experiential Learning: APEX Advising, Planning, and Experiential Learning

Courses Taught

• Calculus & Analytical Geometry I
• Calculus & Analytical Geometry II
• Introduction to Topology
• Operations Research
• Linear Algebra
• Problem Seminar

Recent Senior Theses Advised

• Quantum Gravity: Exploring the Causal Dynamic Triangulation Approach (Norman Israel, Math and CS, 2012)
• Making Money Making Sense: An Analysis of the Modern Portfolio Theory and Performance of Alternative Risk Measures (Nancy Tinoza, Math and Business Economics, 2012)
• The Wooster Model: A Staff Scheduling Problem with an Application to Student Activities (Hannah Dauber, 2012)
• Demographic Effects on Automobile Insurance Compensation and the Negotiation Process (Bryan McDonald, 2011)
• Exploring the Branch-and-Cut Algorithm (Itai Njanji, Math and CS, 2011)
• Printed Circuit Board Layout Optimization (Sean Twining, 2011)
• Investigation of Mathematical Models in Urban Transit Systems (Samuel Hickey, 2009)
• Classification of Surfaces (Natalie Offen, 2009)
• Water Treatment Planning in the Willamette River Basin (Sheldon Masters, 2009)
• Insulin Spherulite Growth and Algebraic Topology (Evan Heidtmann, Math and Physics, 2009)

Awards and Professional Memberships

• Mathematical Association of America
• American Mathematical Society
• INFORMS
• ACMS

Publications (*student co-author)

• "The Circle Squaring Problem Decomposed," with Pamela Pierce, Hannah Roberts*, Nancy Tinoza*, Jeffrey Willert*, and Wenyuan Wu*, Math Horizons, November 2009.
• "An Improved 2n-gon to Square Dissection Method," with Hannah Roberts* and Nancy Tinoza*, Proceedings of the Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and Mathematics, November 2009.
• "Making the Math Major Work for the Under-Prepared Student," with Pamela Pierce, Laura Taalman and Bonnie Gold, MAA Focus 28 number 4, April 2008.
• “Creating Service-Learning Experience in an Experiential Learning Environment,” Service Learning in Mathematics, MAA Notes Series/AAHE Series on Service Learning, 2005.