Overtoun Jenda made a promise that he would
increase the presence of American mathematical
research in Africa and capitalize on an opportunity
to create U.S.-Africa collaboration through Auburn
University and Southern Africa Mathematical
Sciences Association, or SAMSA.
When Jenda, associate provost for diversity
and multicultural affairs and professor in the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
attended a conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
in 2009 held by SAMSA, he was the only
representative from the United States.
“The main purpose of the program is to promote
U.S.-African collaboration on research,” said Jenda.
“There are very good mathematicians in Africa,
and the Masamu Program offers several research
areas for faculty and students to work together.”
Each year, a MASI event is held in one of the
15 participating countries: Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South
Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, and Uganda.
The institutes allow students and faculty from
around the world to form teams and share research
“Our 2014 MASI in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, was
the biggest yet, and more than half of the keynote
speakers there were from Auburn,” said Jenda.
“A large group of Auburn students attended, and
there is definitely an increase in participation from
promising female mathematicians, too.”
Masamu Program participants have published
research findings, completed dissertations and
theses, and received appointments to fellowship,
postdoctoral, and faculty positions in the United
States and Africa, all while making new academic
connections across the world.
Jenda, director of the program, along with Abebe
and Johnson, co-directors, organize and plan all
facets of the Masamu Program through the business
office of the Office Diversity and Multicultural
Affairs.
The 2015 MASI will be held November 20-29 in
Swakopmund, Namibia, and the directors anticipate
more participation than ever.
“For the future, the biggest thing is how we can
sustain this great program. We hope to make this
a permanent part of the College of Sciences and
Mathematics and Auburn University,” said Jenda.
“We’re also working to come up with new and
innovative ideas so we can get continued support
from NSF and other sources.”
For more information about the Masamu Program,
go to www.masamu.auburn.edu.
When he returned to Auburn, Jenda, along with
Ash Abebe, A.J. Meir, and Peter Johnson of
the Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
together with southern Africa mathematicians,
began to brainstorm and developed what would
become the Masamu Program. “Masamu” means
“mathematics” in the southern African region.
The group submitted a proposal for funding to the
National Science Foundation and received a grant
for a two-year pilot program. The first Masamu
Advanced Study Institute, or MASI, was held in
2011 in Livingstone, Zambia.
The program was so successful that the department
approached NSF for more support and was granted
funding for an additional five years. The NSF
funding covers the cost of U.S. participants, while
African mathematicians use their own sources of
funding and sponsorships.
in the areas of algebra and geometry, analysis
and topology, coding theory and information
theory, graph theory, epidemiological modeling,
numerical approximation of solutions of partial
differential equations, and mathematics of finance
and statistics.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics faculty,
including Abebe, Jenda, Johnson, Erkan Nane, and
Kevin Phelps, serve as research team co-leaders
alongside mathematicians from Africa.
“In some areas such as epidemiological modeling,
the Africans have different approaches, so it’s very
exciting to see how these researchers work together
on problems,” said Jenda.
At its start, the program consisted of 41 research
faculty but has grown to 57 and includes Africans,
Canadians, Europeans, and Americans.
College of Sciences and Mathematics
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