Dr. Eric Gottlieb, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Rhodes College, has been granted a Fulbright Scholar Award to teach and conduct research in mathematics at the University of Primorska in Koper, Slovenia from October 2026 to February 2027. This is Gottlieb’s second Fulbright, having receive the award in 2004 to conduct research in Chile and teach calculus courses at the Universidad de Talca.
Since 2018, Gottlieb has conducted research on combinatorial game theory with Profs. Matjaž Krnc and Peter Muršič of the University of Primorska. This field involves the analysis of sequential games of perfect information and no chance. According to Gottlieb, chess is an example of a game of perfect information with no chance, while poker involves chance in the deal of cards and lacks perfect information since each player’s hand is concealed from the other players. One objective is to classify games' losing positions.
In his project, titled “The Computational Complexity of Some Combinatorial Games on Integer Partitions,” Gottlieb proposes to analyze the computational complexity of certain combinatorial games. This is a way of describing how difficult it is to play a game well. Because of the computational nature of the project, Gottlieb will be part of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Primorska. He will teach a course on discrete structures at the University of Primorska using Mathematica-based modules illustrating the application of course topics to combinatorial game theory.
A native of Florida, Gottlieb has worked as a geologist and was a commercial salmon fisherman during the summers of his high school years.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided talented and accomplished individuals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbright U.S. Scholars (as distinguished from Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants) are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals, who share their stories when returning to their home countries and institutions and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
Rhodes College faculty have earned Fulbright Awards for more than 35 years.