The UNT College of Science is pleased to welcome Dr. Derek Levinson to the UNT Mathematics department as a Visiting Assistant Professor this semester. Dr. Levinson conducts research in logic, specifically set theory, which deals with different sizes of infinity.

"For example, the size of the set of all real numbers is a larger size of infinity than the size of the set of all integers," said Dr. Levinson, who earned his PhD in Mathematics from UCLA. "A famous result in set theory is that it's impossible to prove whether there is a set which has size smaller than that of the real numbers but larger than that of the integers. My thesis investigated some of these (potential) sizes of infinity."

Dr. Levinson said he is excited to be working at UNT because he believes the logic group is exceptional in its size, talent, and degree of collaboration both between faculty and with students. Along with research, he will also be teaching Math 1720 (Calculus II).

"I'm very excited to teach this class this fall, because integration and Taylor series are my two favorite topics to teach. Both topics necessitate learning a whole toolbox of techniques, which in turn means learning strategies for when to apply each method," he said. "In my opinion, it's the best class for learning problem-solving skills and that's a fun thing to help students master."

Dr. Levinson grew up in Washington, DC. He said he wanted to be a mathematician ever since his father told him he wasn't going to make the NBA. When not doing math or watching basketball, Dr. Levinson enjoys reading, running, and tennis.