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Bruce Eli Sagan (born March 29, 1954) is an American Professor of Mathematics at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
. He specializes in enumerative, algebraic, and topological
combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and as an end to obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many ...
. He is also known as a musician, playing music from
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
and the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
.


Early life

Sagan is the son of Eugene Benjamin Sagan and Arlene Kaufmann Sagan. He grew up in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
. He started playing classical violin at a young age under the influence of his mother who was a music teacher and conductor. He received his B.S. in mathematics (1974) from
California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...
(then called California State University, Hayward). He received his Ph.D. in mathematics (1979) from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
. His doctoral thesis "Partially Ordered Sets with Hooklengths – an Algorithmic Approach" was supervised by Richard P. Stanley. He was Stanley's third doctoral student. During his graduate school years he also joined and became music director of the Mandala Folkdance Ensemble.


Mathematical career

Sagan held postdoctoral positions at Université Louis Pasteur (1979–1980), the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
(1980–1983),
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...
,
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
(1984–1985), the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, and
Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...
(Fall, 1985), before becoming a faculty member at MSU in the Spring of 1986. He has held visiting positions at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (Spring, 1988),
UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...
(Spring, 1991), the
Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...
(1993–1994), MSRI (Winter, 1997), the
Isaac Newton Institute The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is an international research institute for mathematics and its applications at the University of Cambridge. It is named after one of the university's most illustrious figures, the mathematician ...
(Winter, 2001),
Mittag-Leffler Institute The Mittag-Leffler Institute (Swedish: Institut Mittag-Leffler) is a mathematical research institute in Sweden. Located in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm, it invites scholars to participate in half-year programs in specialized mathematical su ...
(Spring, 2005), and
DIMACS The Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) is a collaboration between Rutgers University, Princeton University, and the research firms AT&T, Bell Labs, Applied Communication Sciences, and NEC. It was founded in ...
(2005–2006). He was also a rotating Program Officer at the
National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
(2007–2010).Bruce Sagan
professional CV
Sagan has published over 100 research papers. He has given over 300 talks in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. These have included keynote addresses at the International Conference on Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics (2006), the British Combinatorial Conference (2011), and
Permutation Patterns In combinatorics, combinatorial mathematics and theoretical computer science, a (classical) permutation pattern is a sub-permutation of a longer permutation. Any permutation may be written in Permutation#One-line_notation, one-line notation as a seq ...
(2015). He has graduated 15 Ph.D. students. During his time at Michigan State University, he won two awards for teaching excellence. Sagan has been an Editor-in-Chief for the
Electronic Journal of Combinatorics The ''Electronic Journal of Combinatorics'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering research in combinatorial mathematics. The journal was established in 1994 by Herbert Wilf (University of Pennsylvania) and Neil Calkin (Geor ...
since 2004.


Books


Mathematical Essays in Honor of Gian-Carlo Rota
(co-edited with Richard P. Stanley), Birkhäuser, Cambridge, 1998, .
The Symmetric Group: Representations, Combinatorial Algorithms, and Symmetric Functions
2nd edition, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2001, .
Festschrift in Honor of Richard Stanley
(special editor), Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, 2004–2006.


Selected papers

* * * * .


Musical career

Sagan plays music from the Scandinavian countries and the Balkans on fiddle and native instruments. These include the Swedish
nyckelharpa ''Nyckelharpa'' (, roughly "keyed fiddle" in Swedish language, Swedish, , plural: ) is a "keyed" Bowed string instrument, bowed chordophone, primarily originating from Sweden in its modern form, but with its historical roots scattered across med ...
, the Norwegian
hardingfele A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...
, and the Bulgarian
gadulka The gadulka () is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gǎdulka", "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz". The gadulka is an integral part of Bulgarian traditi ...
. In 1985 he and his then wife, Judy Barlas, founded the music and dance camp Scandinavian Week at Buffalo Gap (now known as Nordic Fiddles and Feet). He is currently a regular staff member at Northern Week at Ashokan run by
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s ...
and Molly Mason. In 1994 he was awarded the Zorn Medal in Bronze for his playing in front of a jury of Swedish musicians. He has performed and given workshops in North America, Europe, and Australia. He plays Swedish music as a duo with Brad Battey and also with Lydia Ievens. His trio Veselba, with Nan Nelson and Chris Rietz, performs music from Bulgaria.


Discography

* Andrea Hoag (fiddle, vocals) and Bruce Sagan (fiddle, hardingfele, nyckelharpa) with Larry Robinson (
bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...
), Spelstundarna, E. Thomas ETD 102, 1993. 20 tunes in Scandinavian style.Bruce Saga
recordings
/ref> * Bruce Sagan (fiddle, hardingfele, nyckelharpa, gâdulka) with Brad Battey (fiddle), Nan Nelson (bass, tambura) and Chris Rietz (guitar,
kaval The kaval is a Diatonic and chromatic, chromatic end-blown flute, end-blown oblique flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and ...
), With Friends, 2002. 15 tunes in Scandinavian and Bulgarian styles. In a review of this album, the Swedish folkmusic magazine Spelmannen wrote that Sagan plays "som en inföding," i.e., "like a native."Peter Ahlbom, review in Spelmann, 1994
* lydia ievins (fiddle, nyckelharpa) and Bruce Sagan (fiddle, nyckelharpa, hardingfele), Northlands, 2010. 18 tunes composed mainly by the performers in Scandinavian style. In a review of this album,
Sing Out! ''Sing Out!'' was a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that was published from May 1950 through spring 2014. It was originally based in New York City, with a national circulation of approximately 10,000 by 1960. Background ''Sing O ...
wrote that it is "a delightful recording of two highly talented players." * Brad Battey (fiddle, nyckelharpa) and Bruce Sagan (fiddle, nyckelharpa), Letter from America, 2020. 17 tunes composed by American musicians in Scandinavian style.Bruce Saga
recordings
/ref>


External links


Mathematical home page

Musical home page


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagan, Bruce 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Michigan State University faculty Combinatorialists 1954 births Living people American folk musicians American multi-instrumentalists University of Michigan fellows California State University, East Bay alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Scientists from Berkeley, California Mathematicians from California