Michael Grady, Professor of Mathematics
Dr. Grady's interests were in functional analysis. Dr. Grady received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1975, his M.S. from the University of Southern Illinois in 1970, and his B.S. from University of Missouri in 1968. He joined the LMU faculty in 1975 and served as department chair for approximately 12 years. Dr. Grady passed away in April 2012.
Father Clarence J. Wallen
Father Clarence J. Wallen, S. J., received his M.S. degree in mathematics from St. Louis University in 1946, after which he taught for one year at Loyola University of Los Angeles. He went back to St. Louis University and received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1956. After completing his doctorate, he returned to Los Angeles to take a faculty position at Loyola University. During his tenure as chair of the department from 1971-1974, Loyola University merged with Marymount College to become Loyola Marymount University. Fr. Wallen retired in 1987.
After his retirement, he continued teaching in the department part-time until 1998. Fr. Wallen remained active in both the the spiritual life of the University and in the LMU Jesuit community until his passing in 1999.
Fr. Wallen's legacy as a mathematics faculty member of Loyola/LMU lives in the dozens of students on whom he has had a significant influence. Many of the students he taught over the years, have gone on to earn graduate degrees in the mathematical sciences.
Lev Abolnikov
In his 30 years at LMU, Professor Abolnikov taught a variety of classes, ranging from pre-calculus to senior-level courses, as well as graduate courses during the years that LMU offered a master’s degree in mathematics. He was a dedicated teacher who successfully experimented with new approaches and incorporated his scholarly work into his curriculum. Professor Abolnikov served as editor of the departmental newsletter, AfterMATH, chaired the department’s graduate committee, and was the organizer of the applied math seminar. In 1984, Professor Abolnikov organized the department’s annual Math Olympics competition, which he ran until 2008. He also served on the University Research and the University Library committees.
Professor Abolnikov’s research in probability and statistics, queuing theory, operations research and their application is extensive and is highly regarded. He published more than 50 scholarly articles and a book, some with co-authors from around the world. For 25 years he was an associate editor of the international Journal of Applied Mathematics and Stochastic Analysis, and he wrote for Mathematical Reviews, the searchable database of scholarly article reviews in the mathematical sciences.
Professor Abolnikov was born in Odessa, Ukraine. He earned his Ph.D. from the USSR Engineering Academy of Management and Communications Science in 1970 and his M.S. from the University of Leningrad in 1961. Motivated by social injustices of the times, Professor Abolnikov immigrated to the United States in 1980. His first U.S. position was a joint one at Harvey Mudd College and the Claremont Graduate University. A year later, he joined the faculty at LMU. Professor Abolnikov died on Feb. 18, 2019 at the age of 82.