Daniel Abrams Appointed to Bette and Nelson Harris Chair in Teaching Excellence
The chair was awarded in recognition of Abrams’s efforts in developing innovative courses
A Northwestern faculty member since 2009, Daniel Abrams has broad scientific interests.Northwestern Engineering’s Daniel Abrams has been appointed to the Bette and Nelson Harris Chair in Teaching Excellence.
Abrams, professor of applied mathematics and engineering sciences at the McCormick School of Engineering and co-director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems, will serve in the role through August 2027.
The chair was awarded in recognition of Abrams’s efforts in developing innovative courses covering a wide range of topics. These include applications of mathematics to earth and environmental science, an introduction to complex networks, and a seminar course on mathematical social science.
A Northwestern faculty member since 2009, Abrams has broad scientific interests ranging from coupled oscillators to mathematical geoscience to the physics of social systems. He approaches these wide-ranging problems by creating greatly simplified mathematical models where rigorous analysis is possible, capturing essential properties of the system. The work in different fields is generally connected by similar mathematical techniques drawn from the study of nonlinear dynamics.
Abrams’s methods have been productive. His recent work includes research into the utility of scientific conferences, the discrepancy between egg and sperm cells due to natural selection, and the possibility to understand a patient’s pain level by examining data from vital signs.