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CURRICULUM VITAE

Rob Schneiderman

Associate Professor of Mathematics

Dept. Mathematics and Computer Science

Lehman College CUNY

Education:

• Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Mathematics  2001;

Dissertation: 4-dimensional Intersection Numbers of Knots and Links in 3-manifolds;

Advisor: Robion Kirby.

•  B. A. (Summa cum Laude), City University of New York, City College, Mathematics 1994.

Employment:

• Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Lehman College, City University of New York (September 2013-present);

• Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Lehman College, City University of New York (September 2006-2013);

• Postdoctoral Lectureship, Department of Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania  (July 2005-July 2006);

• Courant Instructor/Assistant Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University (September 2002-July 2005);

• National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, (University of California San Diego) and Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher at Max-Planck-Institute, Bonn, Germany (July 2001-July 2002).

Research Interests:

Low-dimensional Topology: the geometry and topology of 3- and 4-dimensional manifolds, obstructions to embedding surfaces in 4-manifolds, invariants of knots and links in 3-manifolds.

Publications and preprints:

• Higher order intersection numbers of 2-spheres in 4-manifolds, (with P. Teichner) Algebraic and Geometric Topology, Vol 1 (2001).

• Algebraic linking numbers of knots in 3-manifolds, Algebraic and Geometric Topology Vol. 3 (2003).

• Whitney towers and the Kontsevich integral, (with P. Teichner) Geometry and Topology monograph series Vol 7 (2004).

• Half-gropes, Simple Whitney towers and the Arf invariant of a knot, Pacific Journal of Mathematics Vol 222, No 1, Nov 2005.

• Whitney towers and gropes in 4-manifolds, Transactions of the American Mathematical Society 358 (2006).

• Jacobi identities in low-dimensional topology, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Compositio Mathematica 143 Part 3 (2007).

• Stable concordance of knots in 3-manifolds, Algebraic and Geometric Topology. Vol 10 (2010).

• Higher-order intersections in low-dimensional topology, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA vol. 108, no. 20, (2011).

• Can one hear the sound of a theorem?, Notices of the American Mathematical Society Vol 58 Issue 07 August (2011), and Best Writing on Mathematics Princeton University Press (2013).

• Tree homology and a conjecture of Levine, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Geometry and Topology Vol 16 (2012).

• Whitney tower concordance of classical links, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Geometry and Topology Vol 16 (2012).

• Universal quadratic forms and untwisting Whitney towers, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Proceedings of the Freedmanfest, G&T Monographs, 18 (2012).

• Milnor invariants and twisted Whitney towers, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) Journal of Topology 7 (2014), no. 1.

• Geometric filtrations of string links and homology cylinders, (with J. Conant and P. Teichner) to appear in Quantum Topology (2012).

• Pulling Apart 2-spheres in 4-manifolds, (with P. Teichner) Documenta Mathematica (2014).

Selected Presentations:

Low-dimensional Topology, Workshop at Oberwolfach Mathematics Institute, Germany (May 2014),

Semester on Topology of 4-manifolds, Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics, Bonn (May 2013),

Low-dimensional topology and High-dimensional Categories, Conference in honor of Michael Freedman, UC Berkeley (June 2011),

Special session on Algebraic and Geometric Topology, AMS sectional meeting, Cornell University (September 2011),

Low-dimensional Topology seminar series on Whitney towers, Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics, Bonn (November 2010),

Special session on knot theory and related topics, Joint AMS-KMS meeting, Seoul (December 2009),

Special session on geometric topology, AMS sectional meeting, Wesleyan College (October 2008),

4-dimensional Manifolds Workshop at Oberwolfach Mathematics Institute, Germany (August 2006),

Julius Shaneson's Ides of March Topology Festival: Submanifolds, Singular Varieties and Stratified Spaces, Courant Institute (2005),

BANF International Research Station conference on Knots and their manifold stories (May 2003),

Uni-Muenster, Junge Topologen und Neue Topologie conference (2001).

AMS meetings (special session talks): Lyon, special session on Low-dimensional Topology; University of Nevada, Las Vegas, special session on the Topology of links.

Topology seminars: UPenn, CUNY Grad Center,  Max-Planck-Institut-fur-Mathematik; University of Marseille; Uni-Muenchen; Courant Institute; UC San Diego; University of Indiana; Stanford University; UC Berkeley; Barnard College/Columbia University.

Teaching Experiences:

Instructor at Lehman College CUNY:

• Topology (MAT 433/741)
• REU Supervisor (Topology)
• Analysis (MAT 320)
• Foundations of Mathematics (MAT 670), Secondary mathematics from an advanced standpoint (MAT 601)
• Calculus I, II, and III, (MAT 175, MAT 176, MAT 226), and Business Calculus (MAT 174),
• Computer Labs for Calculus I and II (MAT 155, MAT 156),
• Linear Algebra (MAT 313), and Abstract Algebra (MAT 314),
• Precalculus (MAT 172), and Business Precalculus (MAT 171),
• Music and Mathematics (Honors seminar).

Instructor at UPenn:

• Calculus II,
• Calculus IV,
• Linear Algebra,
• Low-dimensional Topology (grad course).

Instructor at NYU:

• Topology (grad course),
• Advanced Calculus,
• Business Calculus,
• Calculus,
• Elementary Statistics,
• Logic.

Instructor at UC Berkeley: 

• Multi-variable Calculus (two summers).

Instructor at City College CUNY:

• Precalculus (two summers).

Co-instructor at UC Berkeley:

• Developed and co-taught an experimental Introduction to Topology Course.

Teaching Assistant at UC Berkeley:

• All levels of Calculus, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations (including workshop problem sessions).

Honors and Awards:

• Simons Foundation Collaborative Grants for Mathematicians Award (2011-2016),
• PSC-CUNY Research Awards (2006-2011),
• National Science Foundation Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2001),
• Graduate Student Research Assistantships at UC Berkeley (spring 2000, spring 1998, fall 1998) and UC San Diego (summer 2000);
• chosen to receive Math Department Fellowship, UC Berkeley (spring 1998);
• Graduate Student Instructorships, UC Berkeley, (fall 1994-spring 2001);
• Summer Research Fellowship, UC Berkeley (summer 1995);
• Emil Post Award CCNY (1994);
• Schwarz Scholarship CCNY (1992);
• Belden Mathematical Prize CCNY (1991);
• National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Performance Fellowship (1987).

Service:

• Co-organizer of workshop in Low-dimensional Topology at Oberwolfach Mathematics Institute, Germany (May 2014);

• Music/Math public outreach presentations, Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics, Bonn Germany (fall 2014) and Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics (fall 2010);

• Course designer/instructor for Mathematics Teacher Transformation Institute at Lehman College;
• Director of NSF-funded Computer Science and Mathematics Scholarship program at Lehman College (2011-2014);
• Co-organizer of workshop in Low-dimensional Topology at Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (2008);
• Departmental graduate and undergraduate student advisor at Lehman College;
• Calculus committee at Lehman College (chair/coordinator);
• Departmental honors committee (Lehman College);
• Referee for various mathematics journals;
• Co-organizer special session in Low-dimensional Topology at regional AMS meeting, Courant Institute NYU (2003);
• Served as mentor for incoming graduate students and helped organize graduate student topology seminar at UC Berkeley.

 Additional personal info:

I came to discover Mathematics after a career playing jazz piano which

included recording and performing throughout North America, Europe and Japan.

I've found that Mathematics demands the same blend of discipline and creativity

as playing improvised music at a high level. I enjoy describing Mathematics to

the Arts community as "music that only musicians can hear".