Jon Bannon, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, and Stephen Deyrup, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, were awarded highly competitive Fulbright U.S. Scholar grants for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Fulbright scholarship aims to further peaceful relations between the United States and other countries, with a focus on academia and international education. Both Bannon and Deyrup will use the grants to explore and conduct research in their respective fields.
Bannon will be working in Lancaster, England with Yemon Choi, Ph.D., lecturer in pure mathematics, at the University of Lancaster. It was through Bannon’s contributions on a mathematical theory site, MathOverflow, that Bannon first met Choi. Both have been working on their respective projects for about 20 years.
Together, they will work on bridging their two independent fields of study, as they both have run into similar problems, despite their fields being independent of each other. By bridging their work, they believe they can clean up an open question about a phenomenon called “rigidity.” While Bannon works with von Neumann algebras, which describes quantum symmetries, Choi works with the mathematics of harmonics. Together, they wish to link their two fields of study via analogy to help clarify problems of rigidity in several areas of research.
Not only are purely research grants rare (around 25% of all Fulbright grants), but Bannon is also, according to available records, the first American mathematician to be awarded a purely research UK Fulbright grant in 23 years.
Deyrup will be working in Hong Kong, China with Hongjie Zhang, Ph.D. Together, Deyrup and Zhang will be working to further Zhang’s work with antiviral compounds found in various Chinese plants. These antiviral compounds, which Zhang discovered, have anti-HIV antibiotic possibilities. While in Hong Kong, Deyrup will also continue the research he started at Siena, studying the chemical defenses of fireflies, and teaching a class at Hong Kong Baptist University in the School of Chinese Medicine. He hopes to use his time in Hong Kong to design a course on traditional Chinese medicine that he can bring back with him to Siena.
At Siena, Deyrup found a home that allowed him to focus on his two passions: teaching and chemical research. He teaches organic chemistry and chemical ecology while utilizing the SAInT Center to research the chemical defenses of fireflies.
Additionally, Deyrup expressed a great deal of excitement about researching and studying in Hong Kong, as his wife is originally from Hong Kong. Both he and his wife are happy that their two sons will be able to learn about the other side of their culture.
Whether it’s our professors or our students—Saints chase every opportunity to research, study, serve, and live abroad.
