Henry (Hal) Schenck, PhD

Professor and Rosemary Kopel Brown Eminent Scholars Chair

Mathematics and Statistics

(334) 844-6571
hks0015@auburn.edu
232 Parker Hall
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Hal Schenck

Schenck began his undergraduate studies at Carnegie-Mellon as a philosophy major, spent one summer working as a diver on a nautical archaeology expedition in Port Royal, Jamaica, and finished with a degree in applied math and computer science. Following graduation, he served four years as an Army officer, then returned to graduate school to study math, earning a PhD from Cornell in 1997.

After a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Harvard and Northeastern, he was a professor at Texas A&M from 2001-2008, at Illinois from 2007-2017, and department chair at Iowa State from 2017-2019. Since 2019 he has served as Rosemary Kopel Brown Eminent Scholars Chair at Auburn; he teaches at all levels of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. His outreach work ranges from courses for high school students on the mathematics behind Google to developing extra math support for student veterans.

Education

PhD Cornell University 1997
MS Cornell University 1994
BS Carnegie-Mellon University 1986

Professional Experience

Auburn University, Professor and Rosemary Kopel Brown Eminent Scholars Chair, 2019 -

Iowa State University, Professor and Department Chair, 2017-2019

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Professor, 2012-2017

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Associate Professor, 2007-2012

Texas A&M University, Professor, 2008

Texas A&M University, Associate Professor, 2005-2008

Texas A&M University, Assistant Professor, 2001-2005

Harvard University, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2000-2001

Northeastern University, Postdoctoral Fellow, 1998-2000

Cornell University, Visiting Assistant Professor, 1997-1998

Innovation

Schenck’s research is at the interface of algebra, geometry and computation, with a focus on applied problems. Two recent projects are work on dynamical systems and oscillators (why do certain swarms of fireflies begin flashing in unison?) and on connections between geometry and physics (supersymmetric extensions of the standard model of particle physics). Both projects involve studying applied problems using a mix of computational and theoretical tools.

Military Service

Captain, United States Army, 1986-1990

Awards, Honors, Fellowships

Life Member, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, 2025

Visiting Fellowship, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, 2024

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023

Leverhulme Visiting Professorship, University of Oxford, 2023

Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, 2020

Iowa State University, Provost's Award for Department Leadership, 2019

Iowa State University, Division of Student Affairs Wilber Layton Faculty Award, 2019

Iowa State University Veteran's Center Outstanding Partner Award, 2019

University of Illinois, Dean of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award, 2015

Fulbright Visiting Professor, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2014

Cornell University, College of Arts and Science Clark Distinguished Teaching Award, 1997

Professional Activities

Editorial Board, Applied and Computational Topology and Geometry, 2025-

Editorial Board, Combinatorial Commutative Algebra, 2025-

Editorial Board, Transactions of the AMS, 2025-

Managing Editor, Advances in Applied Math, 2018-

Member, Board of Trustees, MSRI, 2020-2023

Chair, Committee of Academic Sponsors, MSRI, 2020-2023

Managing Editor, Journal of Commutative Algebra, 2008-2017

Editorial Board, Journal of Combinatorial Algebra, 2016-2025

Editorial Board, Journal of Commutative Algebra, 2018-2023

Editorial Board, Advances in Applied Math, 2014-2017

Editorial Board, International Journal of Algebra and Computation, 2011-2017

AMS-SIAM Employment Committee, 2016-2019

AMS Math Research Advisory Board, 2008-2014

AMS Data Committee, 2006-2008