Dylan Shepardson

  • Robert L. Rooke Associate Professor of Mathematics
Dylan Shepardson

Dylan Shepardson works on mathematical problems that are motivated by applications in other disciplines, like biology, epidemiology, sociology, or archaeology. He is especially interested in new and unusual applications of optimization theory. In most physical, biological, and economic systems, a property is being optimized (like energy or entropy in physical systems, or reproductive success in evolutionary biology), and optimization techniques offer interesting insights into these systems. Shepardson's recent projects include voting theory and its connections to combinatorial geometry, infectious disease modeling, and the problem of using collections of radiocarbon data to estimate dates of the earliest human settlements of Pacific islands.

Education

  • Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
  • M.A., University of California - Berkeley
  • B.A., Amherst College

HAPPENING AT MOUNT HOLYOKE

Recent Campus News

A Mount Holyoke College student from Nepal spoke to The Boston Globe about the current Trump administration’s threats to international students.

Content warning: transphobia, discussion of transphobic materials

On May 25, 2025, Mount Holyoke College celebrated its one hundred eighty-eighth Commencement, marking milestone achievements for the class of 2025. Maura T. Healey, governor of Massachusetts, was the graduation speaker.

Recent Grants

Margaret Robinson PI with Co-PIs Giuliana Davidoff, Dylan Shepardson and Jessica Sidman (Mathematics) received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for “Collaborative Proposal: Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference 2020-2022” – with Keene and Siena Colleges. The project is for three years.

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