News: page 2

Jonathan Bugbee started taking our undergraduate Advanced Calculus classes for fun after work in 2023. Three years later, he has a Master's in Math and will soon start PhD studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Congratulations, Jonathan!

Read about Jonathan's journey below in his own words.

You do not need to know from a young age that you want to go into academia. You are not already “over the hill” mathematically at age 24.

When I was getting my bachelor’s degree, I had no ambitions for graduate school. After working in fin-tech for 4 years, I decided to apply to the master’s program at CCNY because I was bored. I missed learning math, had the free time to do so, and I knew that the best way for me to actually learn would be a classroom setting. CCNY offered classes in the late afternoon and evening, which meant I could keep working while pursuing my hobby.

As I started taking more classes, I met a supportive and dedicated community of both professors and students. Being exposed to graduate level content, I was starting to see the mathematics I had been hoping to master for a long time. I was finally understanding what it means to be a mathematician.

Listing every member of CCNY’s faculty and staff that had a positive impact on me would take too long, but I have to thank Dr. Michael Shub, Dr. Pat Hooper, Dr. Tamara Kucherenko, and Dr. Weilin Li in particular for their openness about what it would take for me to find success as a mathematician and their encouragement to pursue the academic path.

What really sealed the deal for me was participating in the Rich Summer Research Internship under the guidance of Dr. Kucherenko. We studied ergodic theory and topological dynamics of shift spaces. The project showed me how creative and rewarding mathematics research is. I made the final decision at the end of that summer to apply for a PhD. This meant quitting my job and completely changing the trajectory of my life, towards something I would have never considered just 3 years ago.

The support and guidance of CCNY’s faculty was invaluable during the application process, and I am excited to say that I will be attending the Mathematics PhD Program at the CUNY Graduate Center.

The Mathematics Department at The City College of New York is pleased to announce that Siobhán O'Connor, CCNY mathematics instructor and a recent CUNY Graduate Center Ph.D. graduate, has been selected as one of the two recipients of the 2025/26 Best Dissertation Award in Mathematics.

Siobhán O'Connor successfully defended her thesis on Algorithmic Problems in Automorphic Orbits of Free Groups in April 2026. The thesis was completed under the guidance of her advisor, Prof. Vladimir Shpilrain.

Braden Loughnane graduated this Spring with his master's degree in mathematics. Due to his excellent record in our program, he was selected to carry the Division of Science flag during the division's commencement program. Braden will continue his education in pursuit of a PhD at the University of Maryland.

Congratulations, Braden!

Below is more about Braden's experience at CCNY in his own words:

I graduated from the University of Michigan College of Engineering with a major in computer science and a minor in mathematics before working for two years as a software engineer in New York City. Curious about the mathematical foundations of machine learning, I was eager to return to an academic setting and pursue a career in research, but I lacked experience and certainty about my area of interest.

I applied to the program hoping to deepen my mathematical training, gain research experience, narrow my research focus, and prepare a strong application for Ph.D. programs.

Thanks to the master’s program and especially the mentorship of Prof. Chatterjee throughout my research and application process, I was admitted to a Ph.D. program in mathematical statistics at the University of Maryland, where I will begin this fall. My research will focus on statistical inference and deep learning theory.

I am also very grateful for the Rich Scholarship, which has supported me financially during the academic year as well as through two summer research internships. For the past year, I have conducted research on graph neural networks and community detection in sparse attributed graphs with Prof. Chatterjee. This summer, I will be working with Dr. Sánchez-Muñiz on topological data analysis with applications in climate modeling.

I have developed tremendously as a student of mathematics through the master’s courses and have enjoyed meeting and sharing ideas with my peers in the program. Dr. Amzallag’s courses in modern algebra and stochastic calculus were especially insightful. I also enjoyed taking an additional course in ergodic theory at the CUNY Graduate Center this semester.

I cannot overstate how grateful I am for the opportunities the CCNY Department of Mathematics has given me. I look forward to continuing my education and beginning a career in academic research, a path that may not have been possible without the support of the program.

David John earned the 2026 Provost’s Award for Pedagogical and Curricular Innovation. The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to teaching, curriculum development, and student support, especially work that goes beyond content delivery and meaningfully improves student learning and retention.

Through his work in the Department of Mathematics and the Artino Mathematics Tutoring Center, John has played a central role in strengthening student support structures, improving course materials, and creating more engaging learning experiences for students in foundational mathematics courses. His work has focused on helping students build stronger study habits, improve their mathematical confidence, and succeed in courses that are critical to their academic progress.

The award also recognizes excellence in service as acknowledged by members of the CCNY community, including peers as well as current and former students. John was formally honored on May 12, 2026, at the President’s Faculty & Staff Appreciation event in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall.

Congratulations, David John!

Associate Professor Shirshendu Chatterjee was awarded the 2026 President’s Award for Excellence. The award recognizes his significant scholarly contributions as well as his excellence as a mentor and an instructor. In addition, the President just approved his promotion to Professor.

Professor Chatterjee’s research has made significant advances in theoretical mathematics and he has used his mathematical approach to tackle many real-world challenges. In addition, he is extremely prolific, having published 24 research papers (some still being prepared for publication) since his 2021 promotion to Associate Professor.

Prof. Chatterjee has done significant work in theoretical probability and statistics, and has published recently in numerous prestigious journals including Journal of the American Statistical Association, Communications in Mathematical Physics, and Annals of Probability. As a result of his work, he has been continuously funded since 2018 by grants from the NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences, with awards totaling approximately $400,000. These awards are currently very competitive, and so this speaks highly of the significance of Chatterjee's research.

In addition to his theoretical work, Professor Chatterjee applies his discipline to science (including to biology, epidemiology, and atmospheric science) and to many other areas (such as agriculture, cyber security, economics, public health, and political science). It is remarkable that he successfully collaborates across vastly different fields.

Last year, he won a “Best Paper Award” from the International Symposium on Intelligent Computing and Networking 2025 conference, and in 2023 he won the “Outstanding Article Award” from Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics.

Professor Chatterjee is dedicated to integrating students into his high-level research, especially students in our M.S. program in mathematics. Recently, he has mentored students in projects such as:

• “Neural networks-based algorithms and applications” (2025)
• “Change-point estimation using Graph Neural network-based method” (2025)
• “Studying effects of socio-economic status on human activities during Covid pandemic” (2025)
• “A simulation study seeking optimal economic control of an aerially dispersed plant pathogen” (2024)
• “Math models for Epidemiology” (2023)
• “Network Inference Based on Partially Observed Data” (2022)
• “Change-point Detection Methods” (2022)
• “Topics of Statistical Machine Learning” (2022)

Both the promotion and the award are well-deserved!

Congratulations, Prof. Chatterjee!