Visiting math professor Muge Kanuni Er from Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, is at UCCS to work on a project, “Algebras on Discrete Structures” involving her areas of specialty, incidence and path algebras.

As part of the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program, she will spend six months at UCCS hosted by Gene Abrams, professor, Department of Mathematics, and working closely with other members of the math department. She will extend her stay for another six months with assistance from an International Postdoctoral Research Scholarship from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
She learned of Abrams’ work while a graduate student at the University of Connecticut (she earned master’s and doctoral degrees there), later corresponding with him by email and meeting at conferences. In Feb. 2011, Kanuni Er delivered a colloquium talk to the math department at UCCS. When the opportunity for a sabbatical from her assistant professor position at Boğaziçi University presented itself, she searched for more than a year to find funding and to visit UCCS.
“The world is small,” Kanuni Er said. “The math world is even smaller. I am happy to have the chance to do mathematics, to write papers together, and to share ideas with my UCCS colleagues.”
Kanuni Er arrived at UCCS Sept. 5 accompanied by her husband and sons, ages four and six.
“Everyone has been very helpful to make our move easy,” she said. “I appreciate my colleagues in the Math Department and both the principal and the staff at Bates Elementary School where my sons are enrolled. My sons don’t speak English so this has been both a challenge and an opportunity for them. But they like hiking and the outdoors. I think this is going to be good for all of us.”
As a graduate student at UConn, Kanuni Er was used to living in the small town of Storrs, Conn., with a large international community. She noted that Colorado Springs is a city but UCCS has a small international student population.
She also explained that Boğaziçi University is one of the most highly regarded universities in Turkey with more than 12,000 students and established ties with universities in other countries. Boğaziçi traces its roots to Roberts College, established in 1863 as the first American higher education institutions founded outside of the United States. Many Turkish students spend a semester studying abroad and the university also hosts many students from around the world. One of Kanuni Er’s former students at Boğaziçi, an exchange student from West Virginia University, is now studying mathematics at Denver University. She hopes to reconnect with him while at UCCS.
“The U.S. has a large international population,” Kanuni Er said. “This gives color to the mosaic. I had the opportunity to meet people from different countries and many cultures of the world while in graduate school at UConn in the 90s. My small classmates group consisted of American, Greek, Korean, Irish, French, Dutch, Turkish, Croatian, German and Kazakh students. I can say that I met the world in the United States.”
As she becomes more acclimated to campus and the Colorado Springs community, Kanuni Er hopes to undertake outreach projects similar to what she did while at UConn. There, she was president of the Turkish Student Association and often participated in cultural fairs where cuisine and traditional costumes were introduced. On other occasions, she made presentations about Turkey to the university community.
To reach Kanuni Er, email [email protected] or visit her office, Engineering 283.
Congratulations Muge.
Müge I read the article and proud of you. Congratulations…
AGÜ
I am proud of you as your uncle.