Elizabeth Niese

Elizabeth Niese joined the mathematics department as an associate professor in the fall 2011 from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. Niese earned her B.S. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and her M.S. in Mathematical Science from the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Niese's research area is algebraic combinatorics, for which she applies combinatorial tools to study algebraic objects. Her work focuses on symmetric functions, which lie at the intersection of combinatorics and representation theory. These functions have applications, to not only many branches of mathematics, but also to statistics and quantum physics. One of Dr. Niese's goals is to use combinatorics to find and prove useful factorizations of some of these functions. She has published four research papers on her research in algebraic combinatorics and presented her work at several academic conferences.

Niese teaches College Algebra-Expanded, Applied Calculus, Calculus and Analytic Geometry I, and Advanced Calculus I. Prior to joining Marshall, Dr. Niese served as instructor for the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech, as well as the Student Transition Engineering Program (STEP) Mathematics Instructor and Coordinator for the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. The STEP Program is a five-week orientation program for incoming Engineering students at Virginia Tech. It is designed to build professional and personal development among new students by introducing them to the university and offering enrichment programs in subjects that have proven difficult for incoming freshmen.

Dr. Niese is a member of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.

Dr. Niese was awarded a one-year Collaborative Pilot Grant from Wake Forest University. The grant funded a collaborative project with Dr. Sarah Mason of Wake Forest on research concerning the combinatorics of symmetric polynomials.