My Educational Background
B.Sc. in Mathematics with cum laude at
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
M.Sc. in Mathematics at
Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye
Advisor: Matthew J. K. Gelvin (Ph.D., MIT 2010)
M.S. in Mathematics at
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Ph.D. Student in Mathematics at
University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
E-mail: mekaraka @ ucsc.edu
Year after year I have searched for myself,
In no way have I found myself.
Am I a spectre or am I a dream? It cannot be known.
In no way have I found myself.
Am I a human, an animal or a plant?
Am I a crop, sown and reaped,
Or else, am I health itself?
In no way have I found myself.
Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu
Translated by Ruth Davis
Special thanks to Yılmaz Akyıldız
Work Experience
Graduate Teaching Assistant at West Virginia University, 2021 - 2024
Teaching Assistant at Bilkent University, 2017 - 2020
Computer Lab. Assistant at Middle East Technical University, 2016 - 2017
Teaching Experience at West Virginia University
Courses taught as the instructor of record,
MATH 106 College Algebra Co-Requisite, Fall 2022
Courses taught as an in-class teaching assistant,
MATH 251 Multivariable Calculus, Spring 2024
MATH 153 Calculus 1a with Precalculus, Fall 2023
MATH 154 Calculus 1b with Precalculus, Spring 2023
MATH 126 College Algebra, Fall 2022
Courses taught as a grader,
MATH 303 Introduction to the Concepts of Mathematics, Spring 2023
MATH 154 Calculus 1b with Precalculus, Summer 2022
MATH 251 Multivariable Calculus, Summer 2022
MATH 156 Calculus II, Summer 2022, Summer 2023
MATH 261 Elementary Differential Equations, Summer 2022
MATH 453 Introduction to Real Analysis I, Spring 2022
MATH 373 Introduction to Cryptography, Spring 2022
MATH 341 Introduction to Algebraic Structures, Fall 2021
MATH 343 Introduction to Linear Algebra, Fall 2021
MATH 441 Applied Linear Algebra, Fall 2021
Teaching Experience at Bilkent University
Courses taught as a grader and tutor,
MATH 106 Introduction to Calculus II, Summer 2018
MATH 253 Introduction to Number Theory, Spring 2018, Spring 2019
MATH 420 Introduction to Cryptography, Spring 2018
MATH 101 Calculus I, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019
Publication(s)
Mathematics graduate teaching assistants grading of students' solutions for optimization problems in Calculus. [in preparation]
joint work with D. Miller, J. Cook, T. McEldowney, W. Robertson, K. Roxby, E. Townsend.
Constructions and simplicity of the Mathieu groups. [pdf]
Bilkent University Library, M.Sc. Thesis, 2020
Abstract: Of the 26 sporadic finite simple groups, 5 were discovered by E. Mathieu in 1861 and 1873 [1], [2]. These Mathieu groups are the focus of this thesis, where we will prove their simplicity using elementary methods. E. Witt [5] realized a connection between the Mathieu groups and certain combinatorial structures known as Steiner systems. We will follow his construction to define the Mathieu groups as the automorphism groups of certain Steiner systems. Much of the work of the thesis lies in the construction of these Steiner systems, which we achieve by using both methods from finite geometry and the theory of Golay codes.
Useful Links
Mathematics in the Near East: Some Personal Observations by David Mumford
Sinan Sertöz's Turkish Mathematicians Webpage (in Turkish)
Should I Quit Mathematics? by Francis Su
Awards and Honors
Teaching Assistantship by University of California, Santa Cruz, 2024
Global Affairs Scholarship by West Virginia University, 2021, 2023
Graduate Teaching Assistantship by West Virginia University, 2021
Bilkent Departmental Scholarship by Bilkent University, 2017
Nazım Terzioğlu Fellowship by the Turkish Mathematical Society, 2016
Attended Distinguished Lectures
Cahit Arf Lecture on November 29, 2018 by Fernando Rodriguez Villegas (International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy)
”Combinatorics and Geometry” at Cahit Arf Auditorium, METU Mathematics Department, Ankara, Türkiye
Turkish Math. Society Tosun Terzioglu Lecture on September 28, 2018 by Robert Langlands (Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, USA)
”Otomorfik formlarin bagimsiz bir teorisi var mi?” (Lecture given in Turkish) at Sabanci University Minerva Palas, Istanbul, Türkiye
METU 60th Anniversary Honorary Lecture Series 2 on November 26, 2015 by Edward Frenkel (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
”Mathematics and Love in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” at Kemal Kurdas Hall, METU Cultural and Convention Center, Ankara, Türkiye
Cahit Arf Lecture on April 21, 2015 by Vladimir Voevodsky (Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, USA)
”Univalent Foundations of Mathematics” at Cahit Arf Auditorium, METU Mathematics Department, Ankara, Türkiye
Cahit Arf Lecture on March 4, 2014 by Persi Diaconis (Stanford University, USA)
”The Mathematics of Coincidences” at Cahit Arf Auditorium, METU Mathematics Department, Ankara, Türkiye
Professional Memberships
American Mathematical Society, 2021 - Present
Turkish Mathematical Society, Ankara Branch, 2018 - Present