Kelly McArthur received her A.B. degree from Harvard University, Cambridge, in 1981 and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Montana State University in 1984 and 1987, respectively. She had a three-year instructorship at the University of Utah before joining the faculty at Colorado State University in the fall of 1990.

Dr. McArthur is trained in numerical analysis and is primarily interested in the solution of partial differential equations. She has looked at techniques such as spectral methods, sinc methods and finite element methods as well as the methodsí associated matrix analysis. Her most recent work is on ADI schemes.

Dr. McArthur has taught a variety of classes at the undergraduate level including complex analysis, numerical analysis, partial differential equations and engineering mathematics. At the graduate level she has taught courses in matrix analysis, numerical linear algebra, survey of numerical analysis, finite element methods, spectral methods, finite difference methods and computational fluid dynamics.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: PUTNAM PROGRAM

The Putnam Mathematical Exam is designed to foster rivalry in undergraduate mathematical studies at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Last year approximately 2500 students took the exam and both those individuals with a score in the top 500 as well as the top 10 teams were announced. The Colorado State University Mathematics Department believes the competitive spirit the exam sparks amongst undergraduates is healthy, so the department sponsors weekly problem-solving sessions with faculty guidance. Although the skills developed in the problem-solving sessions are most immediately applicable to the Putnam exam questions, these questions are designed so that the student must combine technical knowledge learned in a variety of mathematics courses with the strength of their own original thinking. Of course, these are skills that the student continues to benefit from. As both an incentive to Colorado State University participants and as a reward, the Colorado State Mathematics Department will purchase our top finisherís required textbooks at Colorado State for the semester following the publication of placement results.