Saturday, November 1, 2008

Johns Hopkins

Last week I visited Johns Hopkins University to give a talk in the Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics. One of my good friends and coauthors, Jim Fill, is there, and we had some good discussions. There are a variety of different ways to organize math departments. If you look at four groups: pure math, applied math, stats, and operations research, some places bundle all four together while in others they are separate. Applied math & stats is actually one of the more unusual combinations, and even more interesting at Hopkins they are part of the School of Engineering rather than Arts & Sciences.

Anyway, Johns Hopkins has a campus that is breathtakingly beautiful. They have just undergone a renovation of many buildings, and it shows. Brick with white trim, white marble, and spires everywhere you look. Very nice!


I also had a chance to check out Baltimore. Most of my time I spent around the Inner Harbor area (the dolphin show and frog exhibit at the aquarium are great!), but I also took a side trip out to Fort McHenry, best known for inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the War of 1812.

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