Brendan W. Sullivan

Lecturer, Mathematics

Contact Information

617-732-1623

sullivanb@emmanuel.edu

Office Hours

Office: Cardinal Cushing Library, Room G-08C

Office hours: Monday 2:45-4:30pm; Wednesday 10:30-11:45am, Thursday 1:30-3:00pm; and by appointment (send me an email!)

Education

D.A., Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2013; M.S., Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2010; B.A., Mathematics & Physics, Hamilton College, 2007.

Bio

I grew up loving "math" because I was quick with numbers and computations. I studied physics and math in college, but grew to learn I really liked physics because of the math used therein. Along the way, I also realized that mathematics is not about counting and calculating, but rather about beautiful patterns, grappling with truth and uncertainty, and facing the wonders of the universe head-on in all their awesome glory. In grad school, I raced off to learn about more magical worlds of math and stuffed my brain full of knowledge but, through a combination of factors, discovered that I was much better at sorting through this knowledge and conveying it to others than I was at utilizing it for my own sake. That is to say, I wasn't quite suited for creative research, but teaching called out to me ardently and insistently. Ever since, I've sought to reach out to every student I come across, to show them a glimmer of the beauty of math, and to show them that everyone truly is a "math person", whether they know it or not.

What I'm Working On

What I Love about Emmanuel:

I am new here but have already met so many more friendly, personable people than I could possibly count! Students, staff, and faculty alike: everyone has been supportive and helpful.

Publications + Presentations

I have constructed some mathematics-themed crossword puzzles for the MAA's Mathematics Magazine:
"What Do You Study?" Math. Mag. 86 (2013) 370-371 [pdf link here]
More forthcoming in 2014!

For my doctoral thesis, I wrote a textbook for a course that introduces students to mathematical proofs and problem-solving, entitled Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Mathematics (but didn't even know to ask): A Guided Journey into the World of Abstract Mathematics and the Writing of Proofs. Publication details forthcoming. I am currently using this text in our course MATH2109 Discrete Methods.

Previous publications:

R. Bedient, M. Frame, K. Gross, J. Lanski, B. Sullivan, 2011: Higher Block IFS 1: Memory reduction and dimension computations. Fractals, 18, 145-155.
R. Bedient, M. Frame, K. Gross, J. Lanski, B. Sullivan, 2011: Higher Block IFS 2: Relations between IFS with different levels of memory. Fractals, 18, 399-408.

Brendan W. Sullivan

Lecturer, Mathematics

Contact Information

Office Hours

Academic Convocation 2013

Student Accomplishments: Fall 2013

Emmanuel Observes Anniversary of Gettysburg Address

Divining Venus

Grant Kuehl '15

What is Academic Convocation?

Why Political Science?

Spencer Deschenes '14

Academics at Emmanuel

Emmanuel Celebrates Graduates, Honorees at 91st Commencement

Peace and Democracy are Predominant Themes of Middle East Week

Student Accomplishments 2012-2013

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