Biographical presentation given to Whiteland Community High School students visiting Franklin College on 24 September 2008.

1. Who am I, and why
am I here?
Robert Talbert, PhD
WCHS student visit
24 September 2008

2. What do I do here?
• Associate Professor of
Mathematics and Computing
Science
• Came to FC in 2001
• Director of 3:2 dual degree
program in engineering with
Purdue University (IUPUI)
• Chair of Promotion and
Tenure Committee
• Working with Math/
Computing Club to create Pi
Mu Epsilon chapter

3. Bachelor’s degree in Master’s degree in
Mathematics (1992) Mathematics (1994)
(Started as psychology Ph.D. in Mathematics
major) (1997)

5. Mathematical background
Topology: Study of properties
that remain unchanged under
continuous deformation
?
?

6. Current interests
Cryptology: Communication in
the presence of an adversary
= codemaking/breaking

7. What cryptology involves
ABSTRACT ALGEBRA
Groups; rings; fields; polynomials over finite
field; permutation groups
NUMBER THEORY
Prime numbers; factorization techniques; elliptic
curves; discrete logarithms
CRYPTOLOGY
PROBABILITY
Information theory; mathematical entropy;
statistical attacks on ciphers
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Analysis of algorithms; computational
complexity; writing efficient code for algorithms

8. Math questions I’m interested in
Are there efficient ways to break
block ciphers, or strengthen
them against breaking?
How can elliptic curves be used
to create strong and fast
ciphers? How can we break
such ciphers?

9. What I teach
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Calculus Preparation
• Calculus I, II
• Methods of Problem Solving
• Linear Algebra
• Topics in Geometry
• Modern Algebra
• Occasional topics courses
• Interdisciplinary courses

10. Teaching stuff I am
interested in
• Web 2.0 technology in college
math instruction: wikis, blogs,
microblogging, social networks
• Integrating computer
programming throughout the
math curriculum
• Student-active teaching
techniques
• Dynamic geometry software,
spreadsheets, computer
algebra systems

11. What my students are doing right now
Calculus: Calculating derivatives using
algebra, spreadsheets, and graphing
software
Problem Solving: Constructing proofs for
mathematical conjectures using classical
logic and argumentation
Geometry: Using dynamic geometry
software to discover and prove theorems
about circles

12. What my students have done in the past
Online student solutions
Wiki on cryptology during
manual to prof’s course
World War II
notes in Modern Algebra

13. Contact
• Email: rtalbert@franklincollege.edu
• IM: rtalbert235 (AOL) or robert.talbert (Google)
• Twitter: RobertTalbert
• Web page: http://www.roberttalbert.net
• Blog: http://castingoutnines.wordpress.com
• Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/rtalbert (Includes this
presentation)