Stanley S. Chang

I am engaged in the study of the curvature and rigidity of high-dimensional manifolds, using such tools that appear in algebraic topology, differential geometry, index theory and C*-algebras. The examination of such properties has been of classical interest, but recent developments have reanimated the subject in both the compact and noncompact contexts. Currently I am co-authoring an advanced textbook on surgery methods and applications which will describe the many topological theorems proved in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the past years I have taught a wide variety of courses at all levels of the mathematics curriculum, including calculus, linear algebra, abstract algebra, real and complex analysis, topology and Galois Theory. More recently I have developed courses in Advanced Number Theory, Functional Analysis and Stochastic Processes. Many of our advanced students request independent study courses and research opportunities, and I have overseen such efforts in the study of modular forms, advanced analysis, representation theory and logic. In the Fall of 2016 I will be offering an Applied Calculus course that motivates theory and calculation with real-world problems in the life and social sciences.

At Wellesley I have served both on the 2015 Commission, the Academic Planning Committee and the Presidential Search Committee in 2016. In these campus bodies I am interested in helping the College maintain high academic standards for all of its students. In my own department I am very much involved in the effort to build our curricular offerings and to prepare our students for graduate studies. Along with Professor Oscar Fernandez, I co-created the Wellesley Emerging Scholars Initiative in the hopes to increase the participating by underrepresented minorities in the mathematical sciences.

I am an amateur fencer and have competed in some regional tournaments. Currently I hold a national E ranking. I play both piano and harpsichord and have performed some ensembles on campus. My love of mathematics extends to a love of language, and I spend some of each week reading Classical works written in Greek and Latin. Also I am a member of the Metropolitan Chorale, a Boston-area choir that performs choral works three times a year.