David Chapman
I am thankful for the opportunity to return to the Midwest and serve as a visiting professor at Valparaiso University. The last 5 years I spent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, completing my Ph.D. in pure math at LSU.

I completed my undergraduate work at Iowa State University (my family is from Eastern Iowa) where I marched in the Cyclone marching band. Following college, I taught in public schools including teaching high school algebra and geometry in the inner city of Chicago. I then received my master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and was privileged to complete my thesis under Dr. Mario Somodi. I received my Ph.D. under Dr. Robert Perlis, who was Dr. Somodi’s former advisor.

My research focuses primarily on Algebraic Number Theory. While completing my thesis, I worked extensively with a math programming language called GAP. One of the specialties of this program is analyzing finite groups. I am interested in automorphism groups and whether insights can be found when a given finite group is realized as the automorphism group of multiple mathematical structures (a Galois extension, a knot, a graph, etc.). This topic seems to be one that is accessible to undergraduate math

students, and yet mathematically deep. The previous two summers I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with REU programs at LSU, and I hope that work with undergraduates will be a significant part of my research in the future.

My wife Rachel and I have been married for three years and have one out-going, on-the-go toddler, Aleah. Since Rachel is from Canada, I have spent the last few Christmases in the great white north, including a moose-hunting trip with my brother in law on one of the coldest days of the year - around 40 below. So we are looking forward to a mild Indiana winter and seeing colorful leaves this fall, which is something we missed living in the South.