Friday, June 12, 2015
Chris
has
been
a
faculty
member
in
the
Department
of
Combinatorics and
Optimization
since
1987.
He
has
served
the
department
very
well over
the
past
28
years,
as
instructor
of
a
wide
variety
of
undergraduate and
graduate
courses,
as
a
researcher
and
student
supervisor,
and
as Associate
Chair
for
Graduate
Studies.
Chris's
research
area
is
algebraic
combinatorics.
He
is
one
of
the very
best
in
the
world
in
his
speciality,
algebraic
graph
theory, and
has
authored
two
of
the
standard
textbooks
on
the
topic:
Algebraic
Graph
Theory
and
Algebraic
Combinatorics. More
recently,
he
has
been
a
pioneer
in
using techniques
from
algebraic
combinatorics
to
tackle
some
fundamental questions
in
quantum
information
theory.
Chris
has
been
the
department's
most
active
graduate
student
supervisor, and
has
also
supervised
16
undergraduate
research
assistants
since
1998. He
has
extremely
high
standards
and
demands
the
best
from his
students. At
the
same
time,
he
is
encouraging,
supportive,
and
very
conscientious about
developing
his
students
into
capable
and
independent
research mathematicians.
The
nomination
file
for
Chris
included
testimonial
letters
from
many
of
his graduate
students.
Here
are
some
excerpts
from
the
letters:
"...he
is
a genius
at
coming
up
with
problems
that
are
at
the
right
level
for
a
student at
a
particular
stage
of
their
progress
through
their
program",
"He
guides us
along
the
way,
but
ultimately
lets
us
retain
control
of
the
direction
of our
research",
"I
always
feel
that
Chris
is
deeply
interested
in
what
I
am working
on",
"Beyond
his
professional
abilities,
Chris
has
an
excellent personal
touch
with
students",
"I
mattered
to
him,
my
mathematical
ideas mattered,
and
my
mathematical
development
was
of
real
importance
to
him".