The final nominee for Person of the Year has been at Rensselaer for quite a while. William Siegmann works as a professor in the math sciences department. Over the years, he has taught differential equations and calculus, in addition to some graduate-level reading courses. In addition, Siegmann, the chair of the graduate department, works closely with planning the graduate program in the mathematics department.
When asked what he likes about Rensselaer, Siegmann replied that he is attracted to working with students.
Siegmann does plenty of research with both undergraduates and graduates. His research includes looking into acoustic propagation, which explains how sound travels underwater. He says that it’s research that his graduate students can work on as well.
Siegmann also believes in Rensselaer and our academics, and that is why eight of his family members have come to Rensselaer over the years.
Siegmann likes the group of students he gets to work with in the math department and says that it is a very friendly and collegial department. He also connects students with other research centers when they are researching something that Rensselaer may not offer or be that much into.
Before coming to Rensselaer, Siegmann received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over the period 1964-1986. Over the years, he has also worked as an instructor at Johns Hopkins University and has had numerous fellowships in the field of underwater systems, including one at the Naval Underwater Systems Center in Connecticut.
