New professor joins math department

Assistant Professor Darren Funk-Neubauer is a new member of the math department and he is in his first semester with CSU-Pueblo.

Funk-Neubauer said he applied for several teaching and research positions after completing his graduate degree in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I sent out applications nationwide because I was not sure where I wanted to go and if I wanted to commit to a research position,” Funk-Neubauer said.

Funk-Neubauer said he received offers from a couple of teaching positions with tenure, as well as a post doctorate research position in both Arizona and Minnesota.

“I ended up choosing CSU-Pueblo because I would be able to teach and do research work on the side,” Funk-Neubauer said.

Currently, Funk-Neubauer teaches nine credit hours for the math department, which allows time for research.

Funk-Neubauer teaches a Calculus II course and an Elementary Concept I course. The Calculus II course is a five credit class which incorporates the class in three semesters.

The Elementary Concept I course is a requirement for students in the teaching program and it involves a higher level of algebra which is broken into three sections.

“The class is intended to prepare future teachers in readying themselves to teach others and have a better understanding as well,” Funk-Neubauer said. “Those students need to know what they are going to teach to their future students.”

In addition, Funk-Neubauer is the only algebraist in the CSU-Pueblo math department since the department’s original algebraist retired.

“Hopefully I will begin teaching abstract or modern algebra in the future at the university,” Funk-Neubauer said.

Also, Funk-Neubauer said he likes the smaller campus size that the university has.

“Students will get better one on one attention here, and that is something they would not get from a school like CU-Boulder,” Funk-Neubauer said.

Funk-Neubauer said he encourages all of his students to ask for help and seek tutoring if necessary. He also said he has daily office hours in order for students to talk to him about any problems or questions they have.

“I always stress the importance of using the office hours so that they understand the material,” Funk-Neubauer said. “I also suggest that students go to the math learning center for further tutoring.”

Funk-Neubauer also said he encourages his students to talk to each other about the current material in all of his classes.

“Real mathematicians are social about their thoughts,” Funk-Neubauer said. “I think of mathematicians as a community of learners who are always furthering their knowledge.”

Funk-Neubauer said he would like to change the way students view mathematics.

“I hate to see students struggle with this subject because it is not making sense to them,” Funk-Neubauer said.

Funk-Neubauer said he does not want students to memorize the answers to problems, but to know the theorems and find the logical solution.

“This subject is like an art and it takes intuition and confidence to have a deeper understanding,” Funk-Neubauer said. “Math can make sense.”

Funk-Neubauer said he is interested in counting theories and algebraic combinatories for his research topics.

Funk-Neubauer currently resides in Colorado Springs with his wife.

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