photographiste

"My taste for math came from my childhood in Ankara,
Turkey. I always wanted to have 10 out of 10 on math exams! I had a supportive family, especially my father. He wanted to be sure that all his children were successful in their education – sons and daughters. After completing my bachelor's degree at Hacettepe University in 1992, I taught for two years, but then I realized that I loved not only teaching but also research because I was learning whatever I was teaching. I heard that the Ministry of Education in Turkey supported students abroad for masters and PhD degrees. I passed the test, and was accepted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1996. I received my PhD in 2000 under supervision of Professor Allan Peterson. I was surprised to see more males than females in mathematics. Although the number of females in mathematics is increasing, there are still fewer with PhDs in mathematics. They need very supportive surroundings!

I work on differential equations, difference equations and dynamic equations.The theory of time scales, arbitrary nonempty closed subsets of real numbers, allows us to unify continuous and discrete analysis. Time scales calculus has a tremendous potential for application problems such as biology, physics, economics, and so on. I am interested in oscillation theory, initial and boundary value problems, and inequalities as well. I was hired by Missouri S&T in 2002. Teaching makes me feel so cheerful and peaceful. My publications are like my babies. Conferences give opportunities to travel all around the world, and it is a great feeling to be a main speaker at conferences where most of the speakers are males! In 2015, I received my promotion as a full professor and am enjoying being the first female professor in my department, which was established 143 years ago. I share my love of family, teaching, traveling and math with my young son Emil who is also an adventurer..."

Elvan Akin
Associate professor, mathematics and statistics department, Missouri S&T

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