October 19, 2009

Contacts:
Steve Jones, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 515.294.0461
Dave Gieseke, ISU Foundation Communications, 515.294.7263

Willson Named First Recipient of Janson Professorship in Mathematics

Iowa State University President Gregory L. Geoffroy congratulates Barbara Janson while Steve Willson, the new Janson Professor in Mathematics, looks on.

AMES, Iowa — Steve Willson, professor of mathematics in Iowa State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named the first recipient of the Barbara Janson Professorship in Mathematics.

The professorship, one of 60 endowed faculty positions created during Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose, was established by Barbara Janson of Dedham, Mass. Janson is a 1965 mathematics graduate of Iowa State and holds advanced degrees from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and the University of Rhode Island. She is the retired president and founder of Janson Publications and prior to that she was the director of publications at the American Mathematical Society.

“It is because of my belief in the importance of mathematics education and the education of math professionals that I established this endowed faculty position at Iowa State,” Janson said.

Janson is an Iowa State University Foundation governor and also serves as a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and the Department of Mathematics Advisory Council.

The professorship is awarded to a research mathematician who also has a commitment to undergraduate teaching, including encouraging students to major in mathematics and help assure strong mathematical understanding on the part of pre-service teachers and students in other majors.

Willson, who will serve a three-year term as the Janson Professor, has taught undergraduate mathematics courses at Iowa State since 1973. He is the recipient of several teaching awards on campus including the AMOCO Outstanding Teacher Award in 1983 and the Vinograde Award for Excellence in Teaching and Advising of Graduate Students in 2007.

A leading researcher in building phylogenetic trees and networks, Willson is a faculty member in the Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics. He has nearly 50 publications to his credit and served as the chair of the department of mathematics from 1992-95.

Willson is a graduate of Harvard University (A.B., mathematics) and the University of Michigan (M.A., mathematics; Ph.D., mathematics).

This gift is part of Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose, the university’s $800 million fundraising effort. More than $715 million in gifts and future commitments for facilities and student, faculty and programmatic support have been made to Campaign Iowa State.