Suzanne Sumner (ssumner)

Professor

Academic Degrees

B.S., University of North Carolina; M.S., Ph.D., North Carolina State University

Suzanne Sumner, Professor of Mathematics, earned a Ph.D. (1992) and M.S. (1987) in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University, after receiving a B.S. (1985) in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Sumner is an expert on dynamical systems. The recipient of teaching awards at North Carolina State University and Mary Washington, she is active in efforts to improve teaching innovation and to promote interdisciplinary connections.

Dr. Sumner’s research involves mathematical modeling of honey bee behavior and demographics, such as modeling data describing worker bee aggression towards a foreign queen bee and modeling phenomena such as colony collapse disorder.

Dr. Sumner is currently serving as chair of the IOTA State Virginia Scholars Award program of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international professional honorary society for women educators. She also is the chair of the Ellinor Preston Coordinating Council of the IOTA State Organization of Delta Kappa Gamma.

Suzanne Sumner in the News

UMW Faculty Honored for Teaching, Innovation and Service

Awards were bestowed on five University of Mary Washington professors last week at the Fall 2023 Faculty Meeting. Professors of biology, education, environmental science, math and sociology were praised for their commitment to their fields, support of students and contributions to UMW and the surrounding community. Lynn Lewis Professor of Read more…

Mathematics Faculty Participate in Joint Mathematics Meetings

Eight members of the Department of Mathematics presented at the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta in January.  The JMM is the largest mathematics conference in the country, with registrations this year exceeding 6,000 participants.  Highlights of the meeting include: Randall Helmstutler, chair and associate professor, presented the talk "Generalized dihedral Read more…

FSEMs go to new African American History Museum

Thirty-two students from six sections of FSEM (Race & Revolution) and Racism and Contemporary American Philosophy visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture  and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Oct 27.  Four faculty accompanied them: Melina Patterson, Suzanne Sumner, Craig Vasey and Read more…
Read more about Suzanne Sumner.