University Research Professors
1999-2000
Peter Perry, Department of Mathematics
Daniel A. Potter, Department of Entomology
Steven Weisenburger, Department of English
Peter Perry. Mathematics
M.S. (Physics), Princeton University
Ph.D. (Physics), Princeton University
Peter Perry joined the mathematics department at UK as an assistant professor in 1985, after a three-year stint as a Bantrell Research Fellow in Mathematical Physics at Caltech. He became a full professor here in 1994.
Perry is a mathematical analyst whose research concentrates on the study of partial differential equations arising in differential geometry, the mathematical theory of quantum mechanics and fluid dynamics. During his year as a Research Professor, Perry is focusing on a basic problem of inverse spectral theory popularized by the mathematician Mark Kac: Can one hear the shape of a drum? The shape of a drum determines its bass note and overtones, and the frequencies of the bass note and overtones are an infinite sequence of numbers called the spectrum of the drum.
So, what does this have to do with mathematics?
Kac's question means: does this infinite sequence identify the drum's shape uniquely, as a fingerprint identifies a human being? The answer to this question is important because analogous questions occur in applied fields such as medical imaging and seismology. In medical imaging, an MRI scan measures the response of a patient to magnetic fields; from this data, an image of the patient's body is constructed. In the geophysical arena, detectors on the surface of the earth measure the seismic waves produced by a controlled explosion, and from this data the shape of the Earth below the surface can be reconstructed, and oil or mineral deposits located.
By better understanding the mathematical model in Kac's problem, the mathematical foundations of medical imaging and seismology might be better understood.
In order to set the year's research in a larger context, Perry is also using part of his stipend to fund a lecture series on "Quantum Mechanics, Chaos, and Inverse Spectral Theory," a series which will bring nationally distinguished speakers to UK.
Daniel Potter, Entomology
B.S., Cornell University
Ph.D., Ohio State University
Born in Ames, Iowa, Daniel Potter joined the University of Kentucky entomology department in 1979. During his Research Professorship, Potter will study two environmentally safe approaches to managing grub problems in lawns.
"Root-feeding white grubs are the major pests of turfgrasses throughout the eastern United States," says Potter, who became a full professor at UK in 1989. "In Kentucky, there are several destructive species, including larvae of masked chafers, Japanese beetles, and June beetles. These pests chew off the roots close to the soil surface causing the grass to die in large patches during the late summer and autumn."
Grubs traditionally have been controlled, Potter explains, with broad spectrum soil insecticides. However, concern about the impact of urban pesticides on groundwaterfor example, recent contamination of Lexington's waste water facility by the lawn insecticide diazinonbirds and other wildlife, has led to the need to reduce dependence on chemical insecticides.
"The greatest strength of Potter's program lies in its unique balance between basic and applied research," says Bobby Pass, chairman of entomology. "In the area of woody plants, he and his students have addressed some of the most significant insect problems in the eastern United States and have provided management practices that are now being widely used by the nursery and landscape industries."
Since 1981, Potter has been involved in 44 funded research projects and was the principal investigator on the majority of these. He has also received the Thomas Poe Cooper Award at UK for Distinguished Achievement in Research, a Master Teacher Award from the College of Agriculture, and two major awards from the Kentucky Turfgrass Council.
Steven Weisenburger,
English
M.A., University of Washington
Ph.D., University of Washington
Steven Weisenburger, co-director of the Program in American Culture and professor of English at UK, joined the English Department here in 1978. His current research and writing involves the cultural history of white supremacist oppression and violence in the United States. Weisenburger is focusing on how representations in novels, visual arts, polemical writings, editorial cartoons, poems and a range of related texts have been used to sponsor as well as to resist U.S. slavery, Jim Crow oppression, and modern segregation.
He plans to use the Research Professorship to devote full time to the research for his next book, the second in a planned series on the 1898 massacre of blacks in Wilmington, North Carolina, by white supremacist "Red Shirts." To do this work, Weisenburger will spend extensive periods of time at Raleigh and Wilmington, North Carolina, archives studying the private papers of key participants in addition to important newspapers and state and local records.
"Steven has always been a fanatic searcher of primary sources and has shown an unusual ability to synthesize huge amounts of data into clear analytic narratives," says David Durant, former chairman of the English department. "His recent book, Modern Medea, is clearly his most successful and important work. With its publication in the Quality Paperback Book Club and the History Book Club, this book will reach beyond an academic audience."
In addition to his book publications, Weisenburger has published book chapters, 26 articles on contemporary literature, and over two dozen book reviews.
"This second book in the series promises to be an important contribution to the study of post-war race relations," Durant says.