Biography: Professor De Witt L. Sumners – Florida State University

De Witt L. Sumners is Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Florida State University, where he also serves as chair of the mathematics department. He holds a bachelor of science degree in physics from Louisiana State University and a doctor of philosophy degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, England. He has held visiting positions at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan (1988 and 1993), the University of Geneva, Switzerland (1991), and Waseda University, Japan (1996). His research interests revolve around applications of mathematics, especially topology, to molecular biology and medical imaging.

Since 1995, Professor Sumners has served as a Co-Director of the Program in Mathematics and Molecular Biology, a national multi-university interdisciplinary research and training consortium, funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Interfaces Program. The overall goal of PMMB is the continued expansion of the applications of mathematics to molecular biology. The intellectual focus for this program is the development of mathematical and computational tools for the design and analysis of experiments on key questions in molecular biology.

Professor Sumners is a highly respected lecturer and classroom teacher. Among the many honors that have been bestowed upon him are three Florida State University Teaching Improvement Program Awards, the Phi Eta Sigma Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Florida State University Professorial Excellence Program Award.