Michael J. Shelley (born August 17, 1959) is an American

applied mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History One ...

who works on the modeling and simulation of complex systems arising in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. This has included free-boundary problems in

fluids In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously move and deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot res ...

and

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

, singularity formation in

partial differential equations In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to how ...

, modeling

visual perception Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

in the primary visual cortex, dynamics of

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

and active fluids, cellular

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

, and fluid-structure interaction problems such as the flapping of flags, stream-lining in nature, and flapping flight. He is also the co-founder and co-director of the Courant Institute's Applied Mathematics Lab. Shelley was born in

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in, the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States census. La Junta is located on the Arkansa ...

. He holds a BA in Mathematics from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

(1981) and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

(1985). He was a postdoctoral researcher at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and then joined the faculty of mathematics at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. In 1992 he joined the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU). Founded in 1935, it is named after Richard Courant, one of the founders of the Courant Institute ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

where he is the George and Lilian Lyttle Professor of Applied Mathematics as well as Professor of Neuroscience (NYU) and Professor of Mechanical Engineering (NYU-Tandon). In 2016 he also became a senior research scientist and group leader in biophysical modeling at the Center for Computational Biology (CCB) of the Flatiron Institute, a division of the Simons Foundation. In 2019 he was appointed Director of CCB.

Honors

* 1983 NASA Computational Fluid Dynamics Fellowship * 1989

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 ...

Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship * 1991 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator * 1998 Francois Frenkiel Award of the American Physical Society * 2001 Distinguished Chair of the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences * 2006 The Richard C. DiPrima Lecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute * 2006 Julian Cole Lectureship, Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics * 2007 Appointed the Lilian and George Lyttle Professor of Applied Mathematics, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU * 2007 Elected Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

* 2009 Inaugural Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics * 2012 The Librescu Memorial Lecture, Virginia Tech College of Engineering * 2014 The Pelz Memorial Lecture, Rutgers University, Mechanical Engineering * 2015 The AMSI-ANZIAM Lecturer, Australia * 2015 Plenary Speaker, National Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society * 2017 The Reiss Memorial Lectures, University of Delaware * 2019 Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences * 2022 Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelley, Michael 1959 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences faculty People from La Junta, Colorado Fellows of the American Physical Society