Tom Edgar

Professor of Mathematics

he/him/his

Tom Edgar - Assistant Professor

Phone: 253-535-7238

Email: edgartj@plu.edu

Office Location: Morken Center for Learning & Technology - 256

Office Hours: (On Campus) Mon: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (On Campus) Tu & Th: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm (On Campus) Mon - Fri: By Appointment

Curriculum Vitae: View my CV

  • Professional
  • Biography

Additional Titles/Roles

  • Editor of Math Horizons magazine

Education

  • Ph.D., Mathematics, University of Notre Dame, 2009
  • M.S., Mathematics, Colorado State University, 2004
  • B.S., Mathematics, Dickinson College, 2002

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

  • Abstract Algebra (Group Theory)
  • Algebraic Combinatorics

Selected Presentations

  • 12th Annual Western Washington Community College Student Mathematics Conference , Keynote Presentation, Bellevue College (February 24, 2018)
  • Colloquium, Generalized Binomial Coefficients via the Dominance Order on Natural Numbers, Seattle University (October 2014)
  • Colloquium, Generalized Binomial Coefficients via the Dominance Order on Natural Numbers, University of Puget Sound (October 2013)
  • Dickinson College Math/CS Chats, A Fascinating Connection Between Number Theory and Combinatorics, Dickinson College (October 2013)
  • International Linear Algebra Society - 2013 Meeting, Flipping the Technology in Linear Algebra, Providence, Rhode Island (June 2013)
  • Teaching Seminar, Picking up the SLAC: Life at a small liberal arts college, University of Notre Dame (April 2013)

Selected Articles

  • Bland, A., Cramer, Z., de Castro, P., Domini, D., Edgar, T., Johnson, D., Klee, S., Koblitz, J., Sundaresan, R. "Happiness Is Integral But Not Rational." Math Horizons Vol. 25, 2017: 8-11 .
  • Edgar, T . "The distribution of the number of parts of m-ary partitions modulo m." Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics Vol. 47, 2017: 1825-1838.
  • Edgar, T. and Meyer, N.C. "A Visual Validation of Viète's Verification." The College Mathematics Journal Vol. 48, 2017: 90-96.
  • Edgar, T., Domini, D., Johnson, D. "Digital representations of rows of Pascal’s triangle with no entries divisible by a fixed prime power." Pi Mu Epsilon Journal 2017:
  • Edgar, T. and Sklar J.. "A Confused Electrician Uses Smith Normal Form." Mathematics Magazine Vol. 89, 2016: 3-13.
  • Edgar, T. and Spivey, M.. "Multiplicative Functions Generalized Binomial Coefficients, and Generalized Catalan Numbers." Journal of Integer Sequences Vol. 19, 2016: 1-20.
  • Edgar, T. "On the structure of involutions and symmetric spaces of dihedral groups." Note Mat. 34 no. 2 2014: 23–40.
  • Edgar, T. "Totienomial coefficients." Integers Vol. 14, 2014: A62.
  • Edgar, T. "Cryptographic word search." Math Horizons 2014: 26-27.
  • Edgar, T. "Dominance orders, generalized binomial coefficients, and Kummer’s theorem." Math Mag Vol. 87, 2014: no. 2.
  • Edgar, T. "Universal reflection subgroups and exponential growth in Coxeter groups." Comm. in Algebra Vol. 41, 2013: no. 4, 1558-1569.

Accolades

  • 2019-2020 Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching, PLU
  • PNW Mathematical Association of America Distinguished Teaching Award 2019
  • Karen Hille Phillips Regency Advancement Award Recipient 2015-2016, Pacific Lutheran University
  • NSCI Undergrad Research Program , Pacific Lutheran University, Summer 2014
  • Academy of Inquiry Based Learning Small Grant , Academy of Inquiry Based Learning, 2013
  • NSF Grant DMS-0846477 through the MAA RUMC program , MAA/NSF, 2013
  • American Institute of Mathematics Travel Grant , Palo Alto, CA, Summer 2012
  • Regency Advancement Award , Pacific Lutheran University, 2012

Professional Memberships/Organizations

Biography

Tom grew up in Colorado and attended college at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After two years in a Ph.D. program at Colorado State University, he moved to Indiana to finish his Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame focusing on Coxeter groups and the combinatorics associated with them.