Biography:Abba Gumel

Short description: Foundation Professor of mathematics

Abba B. Gumel
Alma mater	Brunel University London (PhD)
Awards	(a) Fellow, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) (b) 2021 Bellman prize (with Kamaldeen Okuneye) (c ) Speaker, The AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics, 2021 (d) Fellow, African Academy of Science (e) Dr. Lindsay E. Nicolle Award for the best paper published in the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology (2009)
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematical biology Applied dynamical systems Computational mathematics
Website	https://math.la.asu.edu/~gumel/

Abba Gumel is a Professor & The Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair in Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park. His research, which spans three main areas of applied mathematics (namely, mathematical biology, applied dynamical systems and computational mathematics), is focused on the use of mathematical modeling and rigorous approaches, together with statistical analysis, to gain insight into the dynamics of real-life phenomena arising in the natural and engineering sciences. The main emphasis of Gumel's work is on the mathematical theory of epidemics – specifically, he uses mathematical theories and methodologies to gain insights into the qualitative behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems arising from the mathematical modelling of phenomena in the natural and engineering sciences, with emphasis on the transmission dynamics and control of emerging and re-emerging human (and other animal) infectious diseases of public health and socio-economic interest.

He held administrative positions such as the Deputy Director of Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Director, Institute of Industrial Mathematical Sciences, University of Manitoba, Canada and the Secretary of Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematical Society.

Biography

Gumel was a Foundation Professor of Mathematics at the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Arizona State University, before becoming The Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair in Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park in 2022.

Professor Gumel was elected Fellow of Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics, African Academy of Sciences, Nigerian Academy of Science, African Scientific Institute and the ASU-Santa Fe Center of Biosocial Complex Systems.

In 2021, Professor Gumel was chosen to give the AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics of the American Mathematical Society. He was named Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Pretoria (2015-2023) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Canada.

Gumel has written over 160 peer-reviewed research, numerous book chapters and edited three books.

Books

• Abba B. Gumel. Mathematics of Continuous and Discrete Dynamical Systems. Contemporary Mathematics Series, American Mathematical Society. Volume 618 (310 Pages), 2014.
• Abba B. Gumel and Suzanne Lenhart (Eds.). Modeling Paradigms and Analysis of Disease Transmission Models. DIMACS Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. Volume 75. American Mathematical Society, 2010 (268 Pages).
• Abba B. Gumel (Chief Editor), Carlos-Castillo-Chavez (ed.), Ronald E. Mickens (ed.) and Dominic Clemence (ed.). Mathematical Studies on Human Disease Dynamics: Emerging Paradigms and Challenges. American Mathematical Society Contemporary Mathematics Series, Volume 410, 2006 (389 Pages).

Promotion of biomedical sciences in Nigeria

In 2014, Professor Gumel became one of eight US-based scientists who signed a memorandum of understanding with seven Nigerian universities aimed at helping them build world-class capacity in biomedical sciences research and pedagogy.

Awards and recognition

• Elected as a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, in the 2022 Class of SIAM Fellows, "for stellar contributions to mathematical biology, particularly the modeling of epidemics, and applications to other public health problems".
• Winner of 2021 Bellman Prize (with former student, Dr. Kamaldeen Okuneye)
• Selected to give The AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics (American Mathematical Society, March 2021)
• Appointed Founding Fellow, ASU-Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex Systems (January 2015)
• Appointed Extraordinary Professor, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Pretoria, South Africa (2015-2021)
• Merit Award for research excellence in 2011, given by the University of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (given in May 2012). Eight awards are given each year, under the research category, throughout the campus
• Merit Award for research excellence in 2010, given by the University of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (given in June 2011)
• Elected Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science (FAS): 2010
• Elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS): 2009
• Received the 2009 Dr. Lindsay E. Nicolle Award for the best paper published in the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology
• Merit Award for research excellence in 2008, given by the University of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (given in June 2009)
• University of Manitoba award for Outstanding Outreach, December 2008 (one award is given each year)
• Merit Award for research excellence in 2007, given by the University of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (given in June 2008)
• Rh. Award for outstanding contributions to interdisciplinary scholarship and research, 2004. This is the highest research award given to junior faculty at the University of Manitoba
• Young African Mathematician Medal (Applied Mathematics), given by the African Mathematical Union (International Conference of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, November 2003). This award is given to an African mathematician, under the age of 40, for research contribution and potential
• Manitoba Science and Technology Certificate of Achievement, 2003
• Listed as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 1990s on the database of the Mathematicians of the African Diaspora