Meet the Dean

Dean Steve Halperin

Steve Halperin, Ph.D. Cornell, 1970, is Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. Under his leadership, the College made aggressive strides and ranks comfortably among the top 10 public research universities in America in its major disciplines of physics, mathematics and computer science. During his tenure, annual research income in the College has nearly doubled to $85M, new educational programs (including the College’s first professional masters program) have been implemented, ten endowed professorships have been established, and large-scale active partnerships with other universities and federal laboratories like  NASA and NIST continue to develop.

Dr. Halperin chaired the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto, served there as acting Vice President for Research and International Relations and as member of the Executive Committee of the University’s Governing Council. He led the successful proposal for the creation of the $14M Canadian Network of Centers of Excellence in Mathematics (MITACS), served as the first program leader, and was a founding member of the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences.

Dr. Halperin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is one of the initial permanent Fellows of the Fields Institute. He was awarded the Jeffery-Williams Lectureship of the Canadian Mathematical Society and was made Chevallier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French government.

Dr. Halperin remains an active research mathematician, and is a recognized authority in his research area of rational homotopy theory and its applications, collaborating with mathematicians from around the world. He has held visiting positions in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden, has published 4 books (most recently a 530 page monograph completed during his tenure as dean), has over 80 refereed publications, and has delivered more than 130 invited lectures and seminars around the world.

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