Vita for Shai Simonson

Graduate School of Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Ph.D. in Computer Science, August 1986
Study funded by Royal E. Cabell Fellowship

Columbia College of Columbia University, New York, NY

B.A. in Mathematics, May 1979
Van Am Mathematics Prize

Computer Science Department, Stonehill College, North Easton, MA

South Area Solomon Schechter, Middle School, Stoughton, MA

Mathematics Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

EECS Department, Northwestern University

Computer Science Department, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Visiting lecturer, 1982 – 1983

Publications

Refereed Journals

• A Variation on the Min Cut Linear Arrangement Problem, Theory of Computing Systems (Formerly Math Systems Theory), 20 pp. 235-252 (1987).
• Routing with Critical Paths, Info. Proc. Letters, Vol. 34, pp. 13-19 (1990).
• Single Tree Grammars, with Sheila Greibach and Weiping Shi, Theoretical Studies in Computer Science, edited by J. Ullmann, Academic Press pp. 73-100 (1992).
• On the Complexity of Tree Embedding Problems, with I. H. Sudborough, Info. Proc. Letters, Vol. 44, pp. 323-328 (1992).
• Geography, with A. Fraenkel, Theoretical Computer Science A, Vol. 110, pp. 197-214 (1993).
• Mathematical Gems of Levi ben Gershon,  Mathematics Teacher, 93, 8, pp.659-663 (November 2000).
• The Missing Problems of Gersonides – A Critical Edition, Part I, Historia Mathematica, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 243-302 (August 2000). Main paper with translation.  Hebrew text.
• The Missing Problems of Gersonides – A Critical Edition, Part II, Historia Mathematica, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 384-431 (November 2000). Main paper with translation.  Hebrew text.
• The Hebrew Mathematical Tradition,  with T. Langermann, for Mathematics Across Cultures: A History of Western Mathematics, editor Helaine Selin, Kluwer Publishing, 2000. (Online version corrects some typos in published version).
• The Mathematics of Levi ben Gershon, the Ralbag,  Bekhol Derakhekha Daehu 10, Bar-Ilan University Press, pp. 5-21, Winter 2000.
• Communication Methods,  In Mathematics, ed. Barry Max Brandenberger, Jr.  New York:  Macmillan Reference USA, 2002.
• A Combinatorial Card Trick, with Tara S. Holm, PRIMUS, Volume XIII, Number 3, pp. 248-269, September 2003.
  (Online version corrects some typos and minor errors in published version).
• A Post-Baccalaureate Undergraduate Level Program in Computer Science, On-Site Article, Communications of the ACM, Volume 45, No. 7, pp. 21-24, July 2002.
• Mathematics and Computer Science:  Exploring a Symbiotic Relationship, with Ralph Bravaco, Mathematics and Computer Education, Volume 38, No. 3,  pp. 307-317, Fall 2004.
• Public-Key Cryptography,  From Calculus to Computers: Using the Last 200 Years of Mathematical History in the Classroom, editors Richard Jardine and Amy Shell, MAA Notes, Volume 68, November 2005.
• Assessing Knowledge Change in Computer Science, Journal of Computer Science Education, with Jane Nash and Ralph Bravaco, Volume 16, Number 1, March 2006.
• A Rabbi, Three Sums, and Three Problems, in Resources for Teaching Discrete Mathematics, ed. Brian Hopkins, MAA Notes, Volume 74, 2009. (Final galley changes)
• The Mathematics of Levi ben Gershon in the Classroom, Convergence (September 2017)
• The Five-Button Door Lock - Experiment and Discovery in Mathematics - with Tim Woodcock,  Recreational Mathematics Magazine, Volume 8 Issue 14, pp. 105-125, 2021.
• Bracket Challenge, with Stan Seltzer, Math Horizons, Volume 31, Issue 3, February 2024.

Conference Papers and Papers Read

• NP-Complete Problems with Bandwidth Constraints, Computer Science Seminar, Tel Aviv University (1983).
• On the Complexity of Binary Tree Embeddings, with I. H. Sudborough, 15th Southeastern Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Baton Rouge (1984).
• The Complexity of Planar Graph Problems, UIC EECS Forum, (1987).
• Parallel Matrix Multiplication, UIC EECS Forum, (1988).
• The Complexity of Graph Layout Problems, UIC EECS Forum, (1989).
• A Variation on the Game Geography, with J. Vilimek, Proceedings Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates in Science, Engineering and Mathematics, No. 26 (1990).
• What Machines Cannot Do - Teaching Undergraduate Theory of Computation,Teaching Seminar, Duke University, (1993).
• Levi ben Gershon and Early Uses of Mathematical Induction, with Zeev Barel, Institute in History of Mathematics, Washington, DC, (1996).
• Using Medieval Mathematics in Teaching History of Mathematics, Institute in History of Mathematics, Washington, DC, (1997).
• Levi ben Gershon and Reading Manuscripts, Institute in History of Mathematics, Washington, DC, (1997).
• History of Mathematical Ingenuity, Mathematical Association of America Mathfest, Atlanta, (August 1997).
• Maaseh Hoshev - The Arithmetic, Algebra and Combinatorics of Levi ben Gershon, Regional Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Montreal, (September 1997).
• The Mathematics of Levi ben Gershon, Joint Mathematics Meeting AMS/MAA, Baltimore, (January, 1998).
• Math of Levi ben Gershon, Mathematics Lecture, Stonehill College, (April 1998).
• Square Root Algorithm of Levi ben Gershon, Invited Lecture Suffolk Community College, (April 1998).
• Some Unpublished Problems of Levi ben Gershon, Yom Iyun - Some Leaves from the Scientific Jewish Bookcase, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, (December 1998).
• The Mathematics of Levi ben Gershon, Invited Lecture, Jerusalem College of Technology, Jerusalem (May, 1999).
• Decisive Mathematical Developments of the 20^th Century, Stonehill College, November 1999.
• Series of Lectures on Using Medieval Mathematics in the Classroom, Invited Lectures, MAA/NSF Symposium for Secondary School Mathematics Teachers, Washington DC,  July 2001.
• A Combinatorial Card Trick, Invited Lecture, Proceedings IWHIT, University of Aizu, March 2002.
• Math in Unexpected Places, Invited Lecture, Mass Gamma Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon Induction Ceremony, Bridgewater State College, April 2004.
• Technology in the Classroom, Invited Lecture, South Area Solomon Schechter Day School, February 2008.
• Levi ben Gershon's Matrix Algebra,  Parma Source, Special Session on History and Philosophy of Mathematics at the AMS Eastern Section Meetings at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 10, 2011.  Abstract.
• Math Discovery Workshop, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, August 19-20, 2013.
• Mathematical Discovery in the Classroom, Stonehill College Faculty Forum, March 20, 2015.
• The Five-Button Door Lock - Computation Versus Mathematics, Invited Lecture, Providence College Math and Computer Science Colloquium, September 2015.
• Fun Mathematics in the Elementary Classroom, JewishSTEMEducators, Zoom, Jan 30, 2024.
• Interview Challenges and XOR, 2/26/2024, Stonehill ACM
  
• Looking for Math in All the Wrong Places,  Stonehill College Scholar Series, Spring 2024.
  

Books

• Java Programming - From the Ground Up, with Ralph Bravaco, McGraw Hill, (February 2009).
• Rediscovering Mathematics, MAA, (March 2011).
• The ACL Guidebook - A Patient's Point of View, (November 2019).
•  Looking for Math in All the Wrong Places - Math in Real Life, American Mathematical Society, (2022)
  

Other Publications

Unpublished Manuscripts

• Bravaco, Ralph and Simonson, Shai, From Pascal to C++ - A Workshop for Secondary School Teachers of Computer Science, Distributed at Stonehill College Summer C++ Workshop (1998-1999).
• Bravaco, Ralph and Simonson, Shai, Java and Object-Oriented Programming - A Workshop for Secondary School Teachers of Computer Science, Distributed at Stonehill College Summer Java Workshop (Summer 2003).

Books in Preparation

• How Computers Work:  an Introductory Programming Text for Non-majors using Logo.

        Online Videos

Pioneer online lectures on discrete mathematics, theory of computation, and algorithms, with over 1,000,000 views worldwide.  These highly acclaimed lectures reach thousands of struggling students in developing nations, as well as professionals and student in Europe and North America.

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Mathematics

Calculus I, Calculus II, Techniques of Calculus, Discrete Mathematics, Graph Theory, History of Mathematical Ingenuity, Mathematics for Educators.

Undergraduate Computer Science 

How Computers Work, Introduction to Computer Programming I and II, Data Structures, Algorithms and Complexity, Digital Logic Design, Machine Organization and Assembly Language Programming, Computer Architecture, Theory of Computation, Artificial Intelligence, Programming Languages, Data Bases.

Graduate Mathematics and Computer Science 

Complexity Theory, Combinatorial Optimization, Automata Theory, Graph Theory, Algorithms.

Theses Advising

21 Bachelor's  Theses, 3 Master's Theses.

• Merit Committee (3 years)
• Intercultural Affairs Committee (6 years)
• Academic Standing Committee (2 years)
• Goldwater Fellowship Committee (3 years)
• Small Grants Committee (4 years)
• Catholic Jewish Dialogue Program
• Ad-hoc Computer Assessment Committee (1 year)
• Honors Program Committee (2 years)
• Rank and Tenure Committee (7 years)
• Faculty Mentor (2 years)
  
• Community Associate for Residence Halls (1 year)
• Strategic Planning Committee (1 year)
• Faculty Adviser - Stonehill Chapter of the ACM (25+ years)
• Faculty Adviser - Chess and Go Club (25+ years)
• Faculty Adviser - Women in STEM  (2020 - present)
• Engineering Curriculum Steering Committee (2021)
  

Hobbies