Welcome From New CIS Department Head, Professor Andrzej Proskurowski
Professor Andrzej Proskurowski began a three-year term as CIS Department Head, effective August 1, 2005. Andrzej has conducted research in network graph theory with an array of international collaborators. See related news story about Andrzej's 60th Birthday Colloquium.
Asked for a quote, Andrzej offers the following anecdote he calls Niels Bohr, meet Yogi Berra:
Last Spring, our department's students, staff and faculty went together one night to see an interesting play Copenhagen at the Lord-Liebrick Theater about the Danish physicist, Niels Bohr. It was a lot of fun: an intriguing play, good production, nice company. To Bohr is attributed the following enigmatic statement: "Forecasting is difficult, especially when it concerns the future."
Andrzej recently returned from research and bicycling adventures in Europe - here is his report:
"First, I went to France to visit a former graduate student, currently a professor at the University of Bergen who was on sabbatical in Pays D'Oc. At the lab in Montpellier (LIRMM) we worked on problems related to branchwidth of graphs. From there, I went to a conference on networking, SIROCCO, which took place in the magical abbey of Mont Saint Michel, on the border between Bretagne and Normandie.
The next stop was in Metz (Lorraine, France) at a Graph Theory conference, WG. Besides attending the talks, I was working with my collaborators on a couple of projects: the above mentioned branchwidth and the resolution of a long-standing conjecture by Art Farley and myself about graphs without disconnecting matchings. Of course, visiting with some long-time friends the spectacular cathedral in Metz, the remnants of the Maginot Line and the local restaurants were added bonuses.
Once my research agenda was met, I was joined by my family for a quick tour of Alsace-Lorraine (Strasbourg and Nancy) and a leisurely bicycle ride along the Mosel: from Metz to Koblenz (Germany). We brought the collapsible Bike Friday tandem from Eugene and enjoyed the scenery, food and wine in the fabled valley of the Riesling. We covered over 700 miles, mostly on designated bike paths."
