Daljit Ahluwalia, acclaimed math chair at NJIT, to be honored

Daljit Ahluwalia, the visionary, vibrant and longtime chair of NJIT’s Department of Mathematical Sciences, will be honored at 6:30 p.m. on May 19, 2008 for his pivotal role in dramatically raising the department’s status on campus and in the nation. The honor will be awarded on the occasion of Ahluwahlia’s 75th birthday before more than 200 leading academics from around the world.

Academics will be on campus to attend NJIT’s fifth annual Frontiers in Applied and Computational Mathematics Conference, May 19-21, 2008 in Kupfrian Hall on the NJIT campus. View more details: http://m.njit.edu/Events/FACM08/

The three-day learning extravaganza for leading mathematical minds provides an unusual forum for a collegial exchange of ideas and results at the frontier of research in the mathematical sciences. More than 50 symposia and lectures will focus on difficult problems in the biomedical, physical and social sciences, engineering and technology, and how mathematical modeling provides solutions.

“We all thank Daljit for his many contributions in building one of the most accomplished teams in applied mathematics in the world today,” said NJIT President Robert A. Altenkirch.

“Daljit is very special to many people at NJIT,” said Michael Siegel, PhD, professor of mathematical sciences and chair of the event. “He has spent two decades creating a vibrant and collegial environment in which to pursue research and teaching. We are fortunate to be the recipients of his vision and legendary energy.” An endowed fund for the newly-established D.S. Ahluwalia Doctoral Fellowship in Mathematical Sciences will be announced.

Ahluwalia arrived at NJIT in 1986 to lead the department, following more than a decade of work at the famed Courant Institute for the Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Since then, the math department faculty has increased in numbers by 100 percent, the physical space has grown 300 percent and the computing power has increased by factor of one million. The department annually receives more than $2 million in federal funding, a notable sum for mathematical research.

Today, mathematics is the NJIT’s largest department and in 2004 it was selected to receive strategic priority funding to achieve national prominence within a five-year period. Last year, Academic Analytics, as reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education (Nov. 7, 2007), ranked the department based on faculty productivity number 10 in the nation. See more at: http://www.academicanalytics.com/About/AboutUs.aspx.