Contact

Phone: 470-578-2912

Email: ewestlun@kennesaw.edu

Office Location: D 123

Office Hours:
By appointment only.

Erik Westlund

Erik Westlund headshotInterim Chair & Professor of Mathematics

Dr. Erik Westlund joined the KSU faculty in 2011.  He is currently the Interim Chair of the Department of Mathematics.  He earned a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences from Michigan Technological University in 2010 under the supervision of Professor Donald L. Kreher.  His dissertation focused on the NP-complete Hamilton cycle decomposition problem in Cayley graphs on finite abelian groups, which are graph families with very high levels of algebraic symmetry often used in modeling fault-tolerant networks.

During his experience as a graduate teaching assistant, Dr. Westlund developed a passion for teaching mathematics which became a cornerstone of his career in higher education.  Dr. Westlund regularly implements active learning in the classroom and endeavors to encourage and train students to become responsible, reflective, self-directed learners.  As an educator, he primarily focuses on supporting the calculus sequence for STEM majors and discrete mathematics for computer science majors.  He also enjoys teaching graph theory, enumerative combinatorics, and abstract algebra. 

Dr. Westlund's research interests lie primarily in discrete mathematics, particularly combinatorics, extremal and algebraic graph theory, and applied network analysis.  He also has broad interests in best practices in undergraduate mathematics education and institutional-focused research. 

Curriculum Vitæ

Education

  • Ph.D., Mathematical Sciences 
    Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI (2010)
  • M.S., Mathematical Sciences
    Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI (2006)
  • B.S., Mathematics
    Northland College, Ashland, WI (2003)

Academic Positions

  • Interim Chair and Professor
    Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University (2024)
  • Professor
    Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University (2023)
  • Associate Professor
    Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University (2017)
  • Assistant Professor
    Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University (2011)
  • Assistant Professor
    Department of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin at Marshfield/Wood Co. (2010)
  • Adjunct Instructor
    Department of Mathematical Sciences, Michigan Technological University (Summer 2010)
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant
    Department of Mathematical Sciences, Michigan Technological University (2004 - 2010)
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