John P. Travis, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair
Department of Mathematics
Mississippi College

Professional interests: Geometric Design and Numerical Linear Algebra.
Member:  Mathematical Association of America
Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

Areas of Institutional Service

• Chair:  Department of Mathematics - 2004 - 2022
• Academic Council - 2015-2016, 2019 - 2022
• MC Retirement Plan Committee - 1995 - present
• Point of Contact, Educational Partnership, Engineer Research and Development Center - 2019 - 2022
• Graduate Council - 2004 - 2019
• President's Council - 2015 - 2017
• Strategic Planning Steering Committee - 2015 - 2016
• MC Wellness Committee - 2010 - 2018
• Foundations for University Success Committee - 2020 - present
• Faculty Council - 1996 - 2000, 2004 - 2008, 2013 - 2016
  • President - 2015-2016
  • Past President - 2016-2017
  • President-Elect - 2014-2015
  • Treasurer - 1996 - 1997
• Board of Directors for the MC Credit Union
  • President (2012 - present)
  • Vice President (1995 - 2012)
• Supervisor for the Mississippi College Community Service Center - 1998 - 2004
• MC Core Curriculum Committee - 1996 - 2004
• Faculty Club
  • President - 2003 - 2004
  • Vice-President - 2002 - 2003
  • At-Large Officer - 2001 - 2002, 2004 - 2005
  • Treasurer - 1995 - 96
• Ad-Hoc Committee on Chapel - 1999, 2000
• Institutional Intercollegiate Athletics Committee - 1990 - 1997
• MC Strategic Planning Subcommittee on Christian Environment - 1998 - 2003
  • Committee to draft a University Covenant Statement (Ad Hoc) - 2001
  • Service Assessment Committee (Ad Hoc) - 1999 - 2000
• University Webmaster - 2005 - 2006
• Web Page Coordinator - Developed and maintained active University web pages for the following: 1995 - 98
  • Strategic Planning
  • Faculty Club
  • Faculty Council
  • Credit Union
• Editor of Mathematics and Computer Science Department Newsletter - 1988 - 1994
• Graduation Banner Bearer - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014
• Graduation Mace Bearer - 2015, 2016
• Mortar Board Sponsor - 2014 - 2017
• Sponsor for the local student chapter of the MAA - 1988 - 1998
• Sponsor for the honorary society Pi Mu Epsilon - 1988 - 1998
• Advisor for Mathematics majors
• Advisor for undecided Freshman and Sophomores - 1994 - 2000, 2002 - 2004
• Blue and Gold Sponsor - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Presenter for MC Freshman Experience - 1998, 1999
• MC Math and Science Tournament - 1988 - present
• Various Departmental and Institutional Committees as needed

Awards

• Meritorious Service Award, Mathematical Association of America - August 2019
• Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) Nominee - February 2019
• Distinguished Professor of the Year, Mississippi College - May 2018
• Distinguished Alumnus, Department of Mathematics, Mississippi College - October 2014
• Distinguished Teaching Award, Louisiana/Mississippi Section of the Mathematical Association of America - March 2013

Areas of Professional Service

• The WebWork Project
  • President (2018-2020), Treasurer (2020-present)
• WeBWork Leadership Team - 2011 - present
• MAA PREP consultant - 2014 - 2015
• MAA WeBWorK consultant - 2012 - 2014
• External Advisory Board Member for the MAA/AMATYC/ASA NSF Grant "StatPREP: Faculty Development for a Data-Centric World" - 2017-2020
• MAA Committee on Contributed Papers - 2018 - 2021
• MAA President’s Task Force on Support for Sections - 2018 - 2020
• MAA Committee on Technologies in Mathematics Education - 2008 - 2017
  • Chair - 2013-2016
• Editor for MAA Distinguished Lecturer Video Series - 2011 - 2015
• MAA - Working Group on E-Communities - 2009 - 2012
• MAA 2011 Joint Meetings Program Committee - 2009 - 2011
• MAA - Strategic Planning Working Group on Periodicals and Communications - 2008 - 2011
• Board of Governors for the Mathematical Association of America - 2007 - 2010
• MAA Committee on Web Policy and Procedures - 2006-2009
• PREP summer workshop coordinator and presenter:
  • "Building Model Courses for Online Homework with WeBWorK" - June/July 2013
  • "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWork" - June 2013
  • "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWork" - June 2014
  • "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWork" - June 2015
  • "Becoming a Successful WeBWorK System Administrator" - July 2015
• WeBWorK summer workshops (independent of PREP)
  • "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWorK" - June 2017
• Senior Mathematical Researcher for the Army Corps of Engineers at the Engineering Research Development Center in Vicksburg, MS - 2006
• Technical Editor and Publisher for the Proceedings of the LA/MS Section of the MAA - 1999 - present
• Executive Committee for the LA/MA Section of the MAA - 1998 - present
  • Chair (2002-2003)
  • MS Vice-Chair (2001 - 2002)
  • Past Chair (2003 - 2004
  • Newsletter Editor for the LA/MA Section of the MAA - 1998 - 2001
  • Web Coordinator of the LA/MS MAA Section - 1996 - present
• MAA Anderson Lecture Series, 2009 - present
  • Chair - 2009 - 2010.
• Section NExT Organizing Committee - 2003, 2004
• Panelist for LA/MS MAA session - 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Mathematics Concerns Committee of the LA/MS Section of the MAA - 1994 - 1998
• Student Papers Committee of the LA/MS Section of the MAA - 1996 - 1998
• Judge for Mississippi Mu Alpha Theta Convention - 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
• Nominations Committee for Mississippi Academy of Sciences - 2000
• Member of the Mathematical Association of America
• Member of the Association of Christians in the Mathematics Sciences

Opensource Materials

• Essentials of Mathematical Probability and Statistics
• Mathematics of Finance
• Over 100 published Sage Worksheets at http://sagenb.mc.edu/pub/
• Over 300 published and reviewed WeBWorK exercises in the WeBWorK Open Problem Library

National Meetings Attended

• Mathfest, Philadelphia, August 2022
  • NExT presenter
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Denver, January 2020
• USACE Innovation Summit 2019, Vicksburg, September 2019
• Mathfest, Columbus, OH, August 2019
  • Meritorious Service Award Ceremony
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Baltimore, January 2019
  • Meeting of Advisory Panel for MAA NSF StatPREP grant
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Denver, August 2018
  • Presenter, NExT session
  • Minicourse organizer and presenter
  • Meeting of the President’s Task Force on Support for Sections
  • Focus Group for the MAA Committee on Faculty and Departments (CFD)
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Diego, January 2018
  • Meeting of Advisory Panel for MAA NSF StatPREP grant
  • Organizer for Electronic Poster Session "Me and My Gadgets"
  • Presented Paper
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Chicago, July 2017
  • Organizer/Moderator for Contributed Talk Session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Atlanta, January 2017
  • Presented Talk
• Workshop on Mathematics in the Time of MOOCs, Fields Institute, Toronto, June 2016
  • Panelist
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Seattle, January 2016
  • Organizer for Electronic Poster Session "Me and My Gadgets"
  • Presented Paper
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• AMATYC National Meeting, New Orleans, November 2015
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Washington, DC, August 2015
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Antonio, January 2015
  • Organizer and Moderator for the invited panel "MOOCs and Me: Massive Online Materials for My Students"
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• AMATYC National Meeting, Nashville, November 2014
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Portland, OR, August 2014
  • Panel organizer and moderator, "Open Source Resources for Mathematics: Benefits and Costs"
  • Panelist, "Creating Effective Online Homework for Mathematics", WebSIGMAA meeting
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathematics in the time of MOOCs, AIM, Palo Alto, CA, February 2014
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Baltimore, MD, January 2014
  • Minicourse organizer and presenter, "WeBWorK: An open source alternative for generating and delivering online homework problems."
  • Panel organizer and moderator, "Two Worlds Collide: MOOCs and the Ivory Tower"
  • Presented paper
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Hartford, CT, August 2013
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Diego, CA, January 2013
  • Minicourse organizer and presenter, "WeBWorK: An open source alternative for generating and delivering online homework problems. "
  • Paper Session Organizer, "MAA Session on Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Homework "
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Madison, WI, August 2012
  • Presenter, "(Free) Technology for Teaching Mathematics", for NExT
  • Organizer, WeBWorK Consultant's Workshop
  • Panel Organizer, Designing Studies to Measure the Effectiveness of Online Homework
  • Panelist, The Job Search II: Interviewing and Hiring for Academic Jobs - Lessons from Both Sides of the Trench
  • Panelist, “Online Technology in Mathematics Education” for WebSIGMAA meeting
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Boston, MA, January 2012
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit
• Mathfest, Lexington, KY, August 2011
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, New Orleans, LA - January 2011
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
• Mathfest, Pittsburg, PA, August 2010
  • Panelist, NExT
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Francisco, CA, January 2010
• Mathfest, Portland, OR, August 2009
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, Washington, DC - January 2009
• Mathfest, Madison, WI, August 2008
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Diego, CA, January 2008
• Mathfest, San Jose, CA, August 2007
• Joint Mathematics Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 2007
• Mathfest, Providence, RI, August 2004
• Mathfest, Boulder, CO, August 2003
• Mathfest, Burlington, VT, August 2002
• Mathfest, Providence, RI, August 1999

Local Meetings Attended

• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Natchitoches, LA- Spring 2022
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, online - Spring 2021
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, New Orleans, LA - Spring 2020
• Arkansas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, Russelville, AR - Spring 2019
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Clinton, MS - Spring 2019
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Lafayette, LA - Spring 2018
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Jackson, MS - Spring 2017
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Shreveport, LA - Spring 2016
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Biloxi, LA - Spring 2015
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Baton Rouge, LA - Spring 2014
  • Distinguished Teaching Award Lecture
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Hattiesburg, MS - Spring 2013
  • Presenter, Teaching with Sage workshop
• MCTM annual meeting, Starkville, MS - Fall 2012
  • Presenter, WeBWorK two-hour workshop
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Natchitoches, LA - Spring 2012
  • Presenter, WeBWorK demonstration workshop
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Oxford, MS - Spring 2011
  • Presenter, Sage training workshop
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Hammond, LA - Spring 2010
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Clinton, MS - Spring 2009
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Lake Charles, LA - Spring 2008
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Starkville, MS - Spring 2007
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Ruston, LA - Spring 2006
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Gulfport, MS. - Spring 2005
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Hammond, LA - Spring 2004
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Clinton, MS - Spring 2003
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Natchitoches, LA - Spring 2002
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Oxford, MS - Spring 2001
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Lafayette, LA - Spring 2000
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Jackson, MS - Spring 1999
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, New Orleans, LS - Spring 1998
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Jackson, MS - Spring 1997
  • Presenter, "The Internet and Beyond" and "The Creative Side" workshops
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Baton Rouge, LA - Spring 1996
  • Presenter, "Mathematics and the Internet" workshop
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Biloxi, MS - Spring 1995
• MAA LA/MS Section annual meeting, Biloxi, MS - Spring 1994

Other Meetings and Workshops

• WeBWorK OPL workshop - Charlottesville, VA, August, 2015
• WeBWorK::Portland - August 2014
• PREP 2015 - online, "Becoming a Successful WeBWorK System Administrator"
  • organizer and presenter
• PREP 2015 - online, "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWorK"
  • organizer and presenter
• Sage Edu Days 6 - Seattle, WA - June 2014
• PREP 2014 - online, "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWorK"
  • organizer and presenter
• WeBWorK::Vancouver - June/July 2013
• Sage Edu Days 5 - Seattle, WA - June 2013
  • presenter
• WeBWorK::AnnArbor - June 2013
• WeBWorK::Raleigh - March 2013
• PREP 2013 - online, "Authoring Effective Homework Problems with WeBWorK"
  • organizer and presenter
• PREP 2013 - online and Washington, DC, "Building Model Courses for Online Homework with WeBWorK"
  • organizer and presenter
• WeBWorK::Winona - August 2012
• WeBWorK::Clinton - June 2012
  • organizer and presenter
• Sage Days 41/Sage Edu Days 4 - Seattle, WA - June 2012
  • presenter
• WeBWorK::Rochester - June 2012
• MAA PREP Workshop on WeBWorK - Washington DC - June/July 2011
• Sage Days 31/Sage Edu Days 3 - Seattle, WA - June 2011
• MAA PREP Workshop on Sage - online - June/July 2010

Areas of Community Service

• Board of Directors for the MC Credit Union - 1995 - present
• Coordinator for the Woodmoor Homeowner's Association Home Page - 1999 - 2003
• Member of Clinton Public Schools PTA - 1999 - 2019
• Board of Directors for the Woodmoor Homeowner's Association - 1998 - 2000 

Areas of Church Service:

• Director/Counselor for Royal Ambassadors - 1992 - 1994, 1999 - 2013
• Deacon - 1993 - 1996,  2003 - 2006, 2008 - 2012, 2014 - present
  • Vice-Chairman, 2015
  • Secretary and Assistant Secretary for many terms
• Church Personnel Committee - 2009-2011
  • Chair, 2011
• Mississippi State Bible Drill Judge - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Church Instrumental Ensemble - 2005 - present
  • Weekly service guitarist
  • Special events guitarist
• College Sunday School Leader - 1993 - 2007
• Member of Sanctuary Choir - 1993 - 2000
• Member of Young Adult Ensemble - 1998 - 2005
• Singles Sunday School Leader - 1988 - 1992
• Various Committees

Book Reviews and Projects:

• 2013, Chapter project for Sullivan and Sullivan Calculus
• January 2005, Advanced Statistics From an Elementary Point of View, by Michae J. Panik, for Elsevier (Whole Text)
• February 2004, Advanced Statistics From an Elementary Point of View, by Michael J. Panik, for Elsevier
• August, 2002, An Introduction to Scientific Computing, by Ian Gladwell and Warren Ferguson, for Addison-Wesley
• August 1999, Order and Chaos: An Introduction to Differential Equations, by Florin Diacu, forW.H. Freeman and Company.
• December 1998, Introduction to Statistics, by Williams, for Houghton Mifflin
• March 1998, Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations, by Merrill, for Houghton Mifflin.

Talks, Panels, Posters and Workshops:

• JMM 2016, "You should try running an online workshop!", w/ Karl-Dieter Crisman, Gordon College
• Speaker for Belhaven Forum Series, "The Problem with Polynomials", October, 2016
• Speaker for Tougaloo Forum Series, "The Problem with Polynomials", January 2015
• JMM 2014, "WeBWorK Online Homework in an Introduction to Proofs course"
• Keynote Speaker for the MUW Sonia Kovalevsky Day, October 2013, "Pascal Patterns"
• Organizer and presenter for the JMM 2013 minicourse "WeBWorK: An Open Source Alternative for Generating and Delivering Online Homework Problems"
• Organizer for the JMM 2013 contributed paper session "Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Homework".
• Organizer for the Mathfest 2012 panel "Designing Studies to Measure the Effectiveness of Online Homework"
• "WeBWorK for Newcomers" - a two-hour hands-on workshop introducing users to WeBWorK--an open source online homework system, March 2012, Natchitoches, LA.
• "Creating Effective Homework Sets and Model Courses in WeBWorK: MAA PREP 2011" - a poster at JMM describing the results of a summer PREP workshop and subsequent collaborative efforts, Boston, MA, January 2012
• "A Sage Approach to Mathematics" - a poster at JMM describing varous ways Sage can be utilized in a number of undergraduate mathematics courses, New Orleans, LA, January 2011.
• "Multivariate Calculus" - an hour-long presentation describing new ways to utilize Sage when teaching multivariate calculus, June 2011, Seattle, WA.
• "A Sage Approach to Mathematics" - a two-hour hands-on workshop introducing users to Sage--an open source mathematics software solution, March 2011, Oxford, MS.
• "Freshman Survival: Get a Clue" - an invited talk/workshop at the Mississippi Baptist Student Union state convention in September, 1999.
• "The Internet and Beyond"  - The first of two invited presentations at the LA/MS Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America on February 28, 1997
• "The Creative Side" - The second of two invited presentations at the LA/MS Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America on February 28, 1997
• "Mathematics and the Internet" - an invited workshop at the LA/MS Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America on March 1, 1996. The workshop helped show participants how to obtain information about Mathematics on the Internet. The workshop was well-attended as the room was completely full. The actual workshop slides are available by following the link above.
• "Beginning Your Walk With Christ" - an invited talk/workshop at the Mississippi Baptist Student Union state convention in October, 1996. This workshop was geared toward Freshmen. For an outline of the study, click on the title above.
• Organizer for Electronic Poster Session "Me and My Gadgets"
  • Presented Paper
  • Presenter, NSF sponsored programs poster session
  • Coordinated WeBWorK exhibit