Western Michigan University (WMU) is located in Kalamazoo, midway between Chicago and Detroit, and less than an hour from Lake Michigan. The Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences is internationally recognized for its scholarly excellence. In recent years the department has hosted important conferences in algebraic topology, differential equations, graph theory, linear algebra, and statistics. Our department receives over two million dollars in grants per year, the largest of any department at Western Michigan University. In a recent report by the National Research Council (NRC) the scholarly quality of the department was ranked above that of several midwestern and national universities of equal or higher stature. WMU is in the top half of all math doctoral programs in the United States in educational effectiveness, and in the top quarter of the most improved programs during 1988-1993. WMU has a vigorous and growing graduate program. Our department awarded its first Ph.D. in 1969 and so far has awarded over 100 Ph.D.'s.

The Department of Mathematics has a diverse collection of graduate programs. We award doctorates in mathematics and mathematics education. We also have Master's programs in applied mathematics, mathematics and mathematics education. Our department is a small, friendly community with open and accessible professors. Our graduate students receive a considerable amount of individualized attention and encouragement from the faculty. Being a graduate student at Western Michigan provides ample opportunities to gain experience in teaching, supervising undergraduate research, interning with local firms, and participating on committees. Our graduate experience provides a student with well-rounded career training.

Graduate students from Western Michigan University have been very successful in finding employment. For example, we have doctoral graduates in tenured or tenure-track positions at Cal State, Emory, Iowa State, Kansas, South Florida, and UNLV. One of our graduates has had a post-doc at Columbia University. A complete list of our doctoral graduates and their employers is available. Our doctoral graduates are well prepared for a career in academia.

Doctorates can also find positions outside of academia. A recent report by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) indicates about 25% of math Ph.D.'s and 44% of master's graduates have positions in either government or industry. Mathematicians and statisticians are sought because of their ability to think analytically, deal with complexity, develop models, and formulate and solve problems. Mathematicians and statisticians are employed by companies in engineering research, computer services, software, electronics, aerospace, transportation, insurance, financial services, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and others.

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