Dr. Paul Sisson
Professor of Mathematics,
Dean of the College of Sciences,
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
PhD in Mathematics, University of South Carolina (1993).
BS in Mathematics and Physics, New Mexico Tech (1987).
Dr. Sisson teaches the full range of math courses at LSUS, with emphasis on the upper-level courses for math majors. In the 1990's he became very active in incorporating the use of multimedia computers into math instruction, and designed a seven credit course which integrates the teaching of college algebra and first-semester calculus and makes intensive use of math software. In 1996-97 he received the funding for, and built, two multimedia computer labs for student use at LSUS. These two labs, with a total of 30 computers, are now used daily by LSUS students taking mathematics at all levels. (To read about Dr. Sisson's more recent grant activities, click here.)
Dr. Sisson's research interests are in several areas of analysis, with specialization in functional analysis. Two recent papers, "A Rigid Space Admitting Compact Operators" and "A Rigid Space Homeomorphic to Hilbert Space", have explored exotic topologies on Topological Vector Spaces, with the first paper resolving a question first posed in the early 1970's. Another paper, "Capturing the Origin with Random Points: Generalizations of a Putnam Problem", uses techniques from differential geometry and analysis to arrive at a surprisingly simple answer to a question that can be understood by a general audience.
Nguyen To Nhu and Paul Sisson, "A Rigid Space Homeomorphic to Hilbert Space," Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, 126 (1998), no.1, 85-95.
Paul Sisson, "A Rigid Space Admitting Compact Operators," Studia Mathematica, 112 (1995), no.1, 137-147.
Ralph Howard and Paul Sisson, "Capturing the Origin with Random Points: Generalizations of a Putnam Problem," College Mathematics Journal, 27 (1996) no. 3, 186-192.
Abstract: This paper presents an extended instructional example that ties together many of the concepts often encountered in college algebra. The original goal for the example was to find an application in which polynomial equations of arbitrarily high degree arise naturally, but the example has acquired other virtues over the years. In its present form, it serves as a convenient and unified review of such diverse topics as Descartes' Rule of Signs, Geometric Series, exponential functions and complex numbers, as well as a good illustration of the power of symbolic math software such as Mathematica.