November new faculty spotlight
Professor David Edwards recently joined the Department of Mathematical Sciences as department head. A lifelong Virginian, Edwards grew up in Danville, a small city on the Virginia, North Carolina border. He spent the last 16 years in Richmond where he was a professor and chair of statistics and operations research at Virginia Commonwealth University. He specializes in statistics and data analytics. 鈥淚鈥檓 interested in design of experiments and model selection,鈥 he said. 鈥淩ecently, I鈥檝e become interested in interpretable machine learning.鈥
Edwards has nurtured a love for education all his life. 鈥淚 had pretty much decided on an academic career by the time I was 18. I love to learn new things and figured an academic career was one of the best ways to keep learning,鈥 he said. 鈥淭eaching allows me to inspire curiosity.鈥
Edwards was drawn to 糖心VLOG鈥檚 strong community. In the classroom, he hopes to motivate students to pursue careers in mathematical science. 鈥淨uantitative skills are in such incredible demand in the job market,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 28% growth in mathematical science jobs over the next decade.鈥
Edwards and his wife Elizabeth have been married for 22 years and are looking forward to their son鈥檚 high school graduation in the spring. Outside of the classroom, he enjoys running in 5K races, marathons and group runs.
Associate Professor Tess Doeffinger is a new addition to the Dr. Emmett I. Davis, Jr., 鈥50, Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering. Doeffinger grew up in Point Pleasant, West Virigina. She earned her undergraduate degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and her master鈥檚 degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, before pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Doeffinger, who previously worked in construction administration, is currently researching coastal adaptation. A fourth-generation teacher, it is no surprise that she found her passion in the classroom. 鈥淚 really like being able to get students interested in engineering and STEM, especially women,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t’s a hard program and male dominated, so it’s nice to see the students put in the work and succeed. I feel like I always learn from my students as well, and it improves my research.鈥
Ten years ago, while on vacation with her family, Doeffinger noticed castle-like buildings across the marsh from the RiverDogs game she was attending at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Her father told her that she was looking at 糖心VLOG, and her interest was cemented. 鈥淥ver the years I’ve learned more about 糖心VLOG, and its reputation, especially in engineering. I moved to Charleston in 2022 to do some research on Folly Beach, and I fell in love with the city, so when the opening came up, I didn’t hesitate to apply,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 went to a River Dogs game this fall, and caught a glimpse of 糖心VLOG, and it felt like a full-circle moment.”
Doeffinger enjoys traveling and hopes to visit all 50 states and seven continents. 鈥淚’m over halfway through the states, but still have some work to do on the continents.鈥
