{"526851":{"#nid":"526851","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Get to Know the School of Math Prof: Thomas Morley","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/users\/morley\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eresearch\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E about?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019ve been all over the place in terms of research.\u0026nbsp; In fact, majority of my publications have been outside of mathematics proper \u2013 in electrical engineering (network theory), physics (quantum mechanics and fractals), operations research (optimization, games), education (cross-disciplinary learning, MOOCS), etc. My latest paper was with a student on nuclear engineering. What ties these research activities all together is that the problems involve a combination of discrete mathematics, matrices, and computers. I find much of mathematics all by itself to be sterile and too inward-looking.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the most exciting time so far in your academic life?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with really good students even before they get to Georgia Tech. Through the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dlpe-calc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EDistance Calculus Program\u003C\/a\u003E I started teaching in 2005, high school students in the Georgia Public School System have been able to take college credits for courses in calculus. Using audio or video links, they take the courses at the time I teach them in Tech, and they take the same quizzes and tests that I give to on-campus students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program now serves close to 500 high school students per year. It enables public high schools to teach college-level courses at low cost. Almost all of the students in the program apply and are admitted to Georgia Tech, making up 6-7% of the freshman class when they get here. I\u2019m very proud of that. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(More information about the Distance Calculus Program is on pages 14-15 in Volume 8 of \u003Cem\u003EProof Reader\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/system\/files\/proof-reader15.pdf\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/system\/files\/proof-reader15.pdf\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you find your way to mathematics research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was either mathematics or music. I had a really great seventh-grade math teacher.\u0026nbsp; Also the wonderful math faculty at University of Maryland were incredibly helpful and supportive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give to a college freshman who wants to be a mathematician?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDo the mathematics that you enjoy and have fun with it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could not be a mathematician, in what line of work would you be now?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA musician.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the most exciting thing about being a part of Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe students are really great. They are not just good at science and technology. They do wonderful things that are not graded or even required in class. Riding bicycles, making music, building things.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat unusual skill, talent, or quality do you have that is not obvious to your colleagues?\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI play (in public) at least a dozen instruments. In college I was a piano player in a blues band; these days I play jazz standards on piano (from an ipad!). I play lots of \u201cstringy things\u201d\u0026nbsp; - double bass, electric bass, guitar, mandolin, octave mandolin, mandocello, ukulele, etc. I play baroque and modern flute, and a whole bunch of renaissance woodwinds you\u2019ve never heard of. Sometimes you can catch me on campus at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtwf.org\/\u0022\u003EWesley Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E on Tuesday evenings. (For more of Tom Morley\u2019s musical interests, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tom.morley\u0022\u003Ewww.facebook.com\/tom.morley\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd I once taught an entire semester course on the Rubik\u2019s Cube.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your ideal way to relax? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERiding a bicycle with friends, and sprinting up some of the steep hills in the Atlanta area.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat three destinations are still in your travel to-do list?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECounty Kerry Ireland, where I have some second cousins; Nepal, just for fun; and Spain for the architecture and food.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you won $10 Million in a lottery, what would you do with it?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommission a builder I really like to build a five-string double bass in the style of Abraham Prescott\u2019s 19\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E-century basses, build and equip a personal recording studio, and then give lots of it away.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Part of a Series of Q\u0026A Miniprofiles for Math Awareness Month"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Mathematics faculty explain their research, recall highlights of their careers, and share personal insights."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2016-04-19 14:49:10","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:25","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"526841":{"id":"526841","type":"image","title":"Tom Morley","body":null,"created":"1461268800","gmt_created":"2016-04-21 20:00:00","changed":"1475895298","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:58","alt":"Tom Morley","file":{"fid":"206133","name":"tom.morley.img_0086.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tom.morley.img_0086.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tom.morley.img_0086.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":110415,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tom.morley.img_0086.jpg?itok=iJQ4y3ae"}},"526991":{"id":"526991","type":"image","title":"Tom Morely is also an avid cyclist.","body":null,"created":"1461337200","gmt_created":"2016-04-22 15:00:00","changed":"1475895301","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:01","alt":"Tom Morely is also an avid cyclist.","file":{"fid":"206136","name":"tom.morley.onbike.capture.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tom.morley.onbike.capture.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tom.morley.onbike.capture.png","mime":"image\/png","size":821378,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tom.morley.onbike.capture.png?itok=sCfdhcd-"}}},"media_ids":["526841","526991"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"171934","name":"distance calculus program"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"170142","name":"Tom Morley"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}