Dr. Christopher Seaton, professor of mathematics at Rhodes College, is among 46 mathematical scientists from across the country who have been named inaugural recipients of the AMS-Simons Research Enhancement Grants for Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) Faculty. Awardees will receive $3,000 a year for three years to support research-related activities.
This is a new program launched by the American Mathematical Society (AMS) with generous funding from the Simons Foundation and donors from the Menger family.
Seaton plans to use the funds to travel to conferences and to other universities to work with collaborators on research. Potential visits include Boulder, CO; Middlebury, VT; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Since joining Rhodes in 2004, Seaton has motivated students to appreciate how mathematics is present in everyday structures and shapes and has led many students to do cutting-edge work on questions that are usually reserved for those in grad school or beyond.
The subject of Seaton’s long-time research has been orbifolds that can be formed, for example, by starting with an entirely smooth surface and folding that surface in on itself. An example is a cone that can be made by folding a smooth sheet of paper in on itself. However, the orbifolds Seaton studies include multidimensional “surfaces” that represent physical systems.
Seaton’s research has been published in top mathematics journals including Advances in Mathematics, Geometry & Topology, and the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. In addition, he has presented his work nationally and internationally, including seminars in Brazil, Korea, Denmark, and China.
In 2015, Seaton received Rhodes’ Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and/or Creative Activity. He also is the 2021 recipient of the Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Mathematics and Computer Sciences Division.