Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (CIMS) is a division of New York University (NYU) and serves as a center for research and advanced training in computer science and mathematics. The Institute is named after Richard Courant, a mathematics professor at NYU from 1936 to 1972 and is a part of NYU's faculty of arts & sciences.
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[edit] Academics
The institute is highly regarded throughout the world as a leader in applied mathematics, mathematical analysis, and scientific computation. There is emphasis on partial differential equations and their applications. Within the field of computer science, CIMS is regarded as a leader in theory, programming languages, computer graphics, and parallel computing.
The Institute offers Master of Science and Ph.D. programs in both mathematics and computer science. There are currently about 230 full-time graduate students and another 370 part-time students. About 120 M.S. degrees and 25 Ph.D.'s are awarded per year.
CIMS is comprised of NYU's Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science as well as a variety of research activities. It is housed in Warren Weaver Hall in NYU's Greenwich Village campus.
[edit] History
In 1934, Richard Courant left Göttingen University in Germany to become a visiting professor at NYU. He was given the task of building up the Department of Mathematics at the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science. He was later joined by Kurt O. Friedrichs and James J. Stoker. In 1946, the department was renamed "Institute for Mathematics and Mechanics". Also in 1946, NYU Professor Morris Kline focused on mathematical problems of electromagnetic wave propagation. This project gave rise to the Institute's Division of Wave Propagation and Applied Mathematics. In 1952, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission installed one of the first (electronic) computers at New York University, which led to the creation of the Courant Mathematics and Computing Laboratory. The Division of Magnetofluid Dynamics was initiated by a project on plasma fusion by NYU Professor Harold Grad in 1954. The Division of Computational Fluid Dynamics was created in 1978, arising from a project of NYU Professor Paul R. Garabedian.
[edit] Notable Courant Alumni
Notable Courant Professors and Alumni include: Alan Sokal (known for the Sokal Affair), Louis Nirenberg, Peter Lax, recipient of the Abel Prize, Jack Schwartz, who developed the programming language SETL at NYU, David Korn (Ph.D., 1969), creator of the Korn shell, Morris Kline, NYU Professor (1938 - 1975), Jacob Wolfowitz (Ph. D, 1942), Chen Li-an, Taiwanese Minister of Defence, and Anjelina Belakovskaia, U.S. Women's Chess Champion.
See also List of New York University People
[edit] External links
- Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
- Department of Mathematics, New York University
- New York University Computer Science
- New York University Mathematics in Finance
