About

Eugene (Gene) Fiorini is the founder and director of Fiorini & Associates. He is the Muhlenberg College Truman Koehler Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and a former Associate Director for the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) at Rutgers University. Dr. Fiorini has authored research papers in graph theory, combinatorial number theory, and mathematics education, as well as several textbooks, book chapters, and educational modules with an applications-based approach. He has been involved with many projects at the intersection of research, applications, and education.

Dr. Fiorini has over 25 years’ experience developing, collaborating on, and administering a broad range of proposals from local niche grants to major international/national efforts in multiple STEM fields and educational disciplines. He has sat on NSF grant review panels. He has been Principal Investigator, Co-PI, or Key Personnel on grants from the NSF, DHS, DoD, DoT, NIH, National Research Experience, USAID, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Mathematical Association of America, Trexler Foundation, Burroughs-Wellcome, New England Biolabs, and the International Union of Biological Sciences. Areas of particular success include multiple REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs; and assistance provided to non-profit organizations for developing research and education proposals with an emphasis on increasing participation among underrepresented groups in STEM fields.

Dr. Fiorini holds MS and PhD degrees in Mathematics from the University of Delaware, and an MS in Statistics from Temple University.

Education

University of Delaware                 PhD, MS, Mathematics
                                                       Graduate Work, Mathematics Education
Temple University                         MS, Statistics
University of New Hampshire     Graduate Work, Mathematics Education
Pennsylvania State University      BS Mathematics (Science/Business concentrations)

Areas of Special Interest
Graph Theory, Combinatorics, Statistics, Biomathematics, Mathematical Forensics, Discrete Mathematical Modeling, Mathematics and Science Education

Professional Employment

• Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
  Aug 2015 – Aug 2020        Truman Koehler Professor of Mathematics

• Rutgers University – Center for Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science
  Jul 2008 – Aug 2015           DIMACS Associate Director & Research Professor

• Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA
  Apr 2004 – Aug 2007         Associate Dean & Interim Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
  Sep 1999 – Apr 2004          Chair, University Scholarship Committee
  May 2006 – Jun 2008          Professor of Mathematics
  Apr 1998 – May 2006         Associate Professor of Mathematics
  Sep 1993 – Apr 1998          Assistant Professor of Mathematics

• Washington College, Chestertown, MD
  Sep 1993 – Aug 1994          Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics
                                               Director, Mathematics Tutoring Center

• Widener University, Chester, PA
  Sep 1991 – Aug 1993          Visiting Lecturer in Mathematics

Sample of Recent Grants

National Science Foundation (Served as PI, Co-PI, or Senior Personnel)

• ​REU: Research Challenges of Computational Methods in Discrete Mathematics
  Moravian University, DMS-2150299

• REU: Research Challenges of Computational and Experimental Mathematics
  Moravian University, DMS-1852378

• Algebraic and Extremal Graph Theory Conference
  University of Delaware, DMS-1649807

• REU: Research Challenges in Identifying Integer Sequences Using the OEIS
  Muhlenberg College, DMS-1560019

• Conference on Challenges of Identifying Integer Sequences
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, DMS-1445898

• DIMACS REU in Computing Theory and Multidisciplinary Applications
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, CCF-1263082

• NSF REU PI Meeting
  Philadelphia, PA, Subaward to CCF-1004956

• DIMACS/DIMATIA US/Czech International REU Program
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, CCF-1004956

• Challenge of Interdisciplinary Education: Math-Bio
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, COMAP, DRL-1020166

• Effects of Genome Structure and Sequence and Sequence on the Generation of Variation and Evolution Conference
  DIMACS- Rutgers University, CCF-0432013

• DIMACS/CCICADA/DIMATIA Research Experiences for Undergraduates
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, CCF-0648985

• US-African Biomathematics Initiative
  DIMACS-Rutgers University, DMS-0829652

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Professional Organizations and Private Foundations (Served as PI)

• SLIMES: Spotted Lanternfly Investigated through Mathematical and Environmental Sciences
  Trexler Foundation, Allentown, PA
  Mathematical Association of America Tensor Grant, Washington, DC

• Workshop on NIMBY: Mathematical and Computational Tools for Decision Making
  Mathematics for Planet Earth, NSF DMS-1246305

• Community College Writers Workshop: Sustainability Modules for the College Classroom
  Mathematics for Planet Earth, NSF DMS-1246305

• InForMMS: Investigating Forensic Mysteries through the Mathematical Sciences
  Mathematical Association of America Tensor Grant, Washington, DC

• InForMMS: Investigating Forensic Mysteries through the Mathematical Sciences-Plus
  Trexler Foundation, Allentown, PA
  Mathematical Association of America Tensor Grant, Washington, DC

• Mathematical Association of America NREUP

  • Identifying Sieves and Primitive Integer Triples Using the OEIS

  • Topologically Equivalent Graphs and Pattern Recognition

  • Applying Graphs to Twitter and Brain Connectivity

  • Sustainability and Graph Theory

  • Graph Theory, Algorithms, and Applications

  • Modeling Hudson River Species and Class-0 Subgraphs

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Publications

Journal Articles

• Cycles & Girth in Pebble Assignment Graphs (w. J. Johnston, M. Lind A. Woldar & W. H. T. Wong), Graphs and Combinatorics, accepted.

• On Properties of Pebble Assignment Graphs (w. M. Lind & A. Woldar), Graphs and Combinatorics, 38(45) 2021.

• On the Assignment Graphs of Oriented Graphs (w. J. Glassband, G. Koch, S. Lebiere, X. Liu, E. Sabini, N. Shank, & A. Woldar), arXiv:2111.04882[math.CO], Nov 2021.

• Characterizing Winning Positions in the Impartial Two-player Pebbling Game on Complete Graphs (w. M. Lind, A. Woldar, & W. H. T. Wong), Journal of Integer Sequences, 24(6) 2021.

• Nimber sequences of Node-Kayles Games (w. S. Brown, S. Daugherty, B. Maldonado, D. Manzano-Ruiz, S. Rainville, R. Waechter, & T. W. H. Wong), Journal of Integer Sequences, 23(3) 2020.

• Preface to the Special Issue of Discrete Mathematics: Dedicated to the Algebraic and Extremal Graph Theory Conference, August 7-10, 2017, University of Delaware, USA (w. S. Cioaba, R. Coulter, & Q. Xiang), Discrete Mathematics, 342(10), October 2019

• Primes and perfect powers in the Catalan triangle (w. N. Benjamin, G. Fickes, E. Jaramillo-Rodriquez, E. Jovinelly, & T. W. H. Wong), Journal of Integer Sequences, 22(6) 2019.

• Coordinating a large, amalgamated REU program with Multiple Funding Sources (w. K. Myers & Y. Naqvi), Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (PRIMUS), Spring 2017

• Connectance, robustness, and the Hudson River food web (w. U. Ghosh-Dastidar), Proceedings of 2014 International Conference of Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America (BAASANA), 2014

• Undergraduates and research: motivations, challenges, and the path forward (w. W. E. Wong, J. Ding, and C. Hansen), Proceedings of IEEE CSEE&T, May 2013.

• Graph pebbling: symmetric class-0 subgraphs of complete graphs (in preparation, with V. deSilva and C.J. Verbeck), DIMACS Technical Report, 2012

• Powerpoint presentation: ship it – textbooks go global,  IPSL Proceedings,  Spring 2006

• The future interdisciplinary classroom, Project Kalidescope Proceedings , Spring 1999

• Extremal properties of generalized four-gons, SSHE-MA Conference Proceedings, Spring 1998

• Developing mathematics-related activities for the classroom.  (with A. Acusta & J. Miller), Mathematics and Computer Education, 1998

• Increasing student activity levels. (joint with D. Ensley), Proteus, 1998

• An extremal characterization of the incidence graphs of projective planes. (with F. Lazebnik), Acta Applicandae Mathematicae, 1998

• On the maximum number of 8-cycles in a bipartite graph of girth at least six. (with F. Lazebnik), Congressus Numerantium, 1994

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Contributions to the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences

A259558, A259559, A259562, A259564, A260360, A260373, A260374, A260375, A275481, A275586, A308853, A309088, A309089, A309257, A309258, A309259, A309344, A309345, A316533, A316629, A316632, A316781, A317027, A317367, A336764, A340631, A346189, A346197, A346198, A346199, A346204, A346401, A347637

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Books, Chapters, Modules

• Time Series Applications in Energy-Related Issues. (w. K. Shirley) CCICADA, 2017

• Modeling Neuron Networks: The neuroscience of pain. (w. T. Cannon), COMAP, 2016

• CrIME: Criminal investigation through mathematical examination. (w. L. Godbold, T. Fleetwood), COMAP, 2016

• Smart Driving: reducing emissions by choosing “greenest’ path . (w. B. Piccoli), DIMACS, 2013

• Modeling reality with functions: graphical, numerical, analytical, (w. J. Miller) 1st ed. Kendall-Hunt, Spring, 2000

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Graduate Student Thesis Advisor

• Gail Auimiller, 2002, Development of Algebra Manipulatives.

• Gaynaile Nowak, 2001, Statistical analysis of insurance data.

• Jason Rosenberry, 1999, Development of web-based geometry activities.

• Michael Failor, 1997, Acceptable meconium drug testing methods based on the analysis of false- positive and false-negative test results.

• Cindy Martin, 1997, Classification of counterexamples to a generalization of Ore’s theorem.

• Amy Smith, 1997, Developmental steps in geometry.

• Mark Yost,1996, An alternative approach to Redei’s theorem.

Jack Jarmon is a senior associate who leads F&A’s partnership and marketing efforts.  Dr. Jarmon has taught international relation courses at the University of Pennsylvania, the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, and Rutgers University where he was also Associate Director of the Command, Control and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis – a Center of Excellence of the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Division.

Dr. Jarmon served as an administrator overseeing a USAID grant in excess of $600 million. As part of this grant, he was USAID technical advisor for the Russian government in the mid-1990s. During its economic transition period, he worked for the Russian Privatization Committee, and with such organizations as the US Russia Investment Fund, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and various money center banks.  His private sector career includes global consultant firms, technology companies, and financial institutions.  He was a manager with Arthur Andersen in Moscow and Director of Strategic Alliances at Nortel Networks, Brampton, Ontario.

Dr. Jarmon holds a doctoral degree in Global Affairs from Rutgers University.  He studied Soviet and Russian affairs at Fordham University and the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, and is fluent in Russian. He has authored or co-authored five books, which are currently core texts for international and security studies programs in the US and abroad.

Dr. Jack Jarmon has taught international relation courses at the University of Pennsylvania, the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, and Rutgers University where he was also Associate Director of the Command, Control and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis – a Center of Excellence of the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Division.

In the mid 1990s, he was USAID technical advisor for the Russian government. During its economic transition period, Jack Jarmon worked for the Russian Privatization Committee, and with such organizations as the US Russia Investment Fund, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and various money center banks.  His private sector career includes global consultant firms, technology companies, and financial institutions.  He was a manager with Arthur Andersen in Moscow and Director of Strategic Alliances at Nortel Networks, Brampton, Ontario.

He studied Soviet and Russian affairs at Fordham University and the Harriman Institute at Columbia University.  Jarmon is fluent in Russian and holds a doctorate degree in global affairs from Rutgers. He has authored and co-authored five books, which are currently core texts for international and security studies programs in the US and abroad.

While serving with USAID Jack Jarmon assisted privatized firms seeking investment capital from international and state sponsored lending institutions. The position included creating a back channel into these establishments for various organizations of the World Bank Group as well as money center banks and international venture capital firms. 

His university textbooks have become core texts for international and security studies programs at universities in the US and abroad.  Stephen Flynn, a former member of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Council and Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute, Northeastern University wrote: “Jack Jarmon serves as a modern-day reconnaissance scout, surveying the global landscape and reporting back on the emerging dangers”. Melissa Hathaway, former cyber advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and member of Barack Obama’s National Security Council, commented on his book The Cyber Threat and Globalization, (co-written with Pano Yannakogeorgos): “This book provides a foundational understanding of how cyberspace has transformed the nature of national security, global conflict and international relations and will be relevant for years to come.”

Jarmon’s career spans over forty years of progressive corporate experience, academic research, international business and policy development. Assignments required him to meet regularly with corporate executives, government officials, local and national figures.  Dr. Jarmon has been a background source for journalists covering domestic politics and global security. A partial list of major outlets includes The New York Times, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed, Vanity Fair, and The Moscow Times. Contributors to his own work are former US senators, Bob Kerrey and Sam Nunn, state governors, members of the National Security Council, and nationally prominent subject matter experts in academe and the private/public sector. Jarmon has lectured extensively at war colleges, many major research universities, and in public forums.

Gail Marsella leads proposal writing and editing for F&A clients in the non-profit sector. Ms. Marsella worked in several capacities in the chemical industry, including IT, business analysis, competitive intelligence, environmental laboratory, and freelance technical writing. She taught chemistry, writing seminars, and environmental science to beginning learners at Muhlenberg College for over 20 years.

Constant threads through this varied experience are education, analysis, and the written word. Just in the past five years, collaboration on proposal development resulted in eight of nine grant proposals ultimately funded.

Ms. Marsella holds an MS degree in Chemistry from Butler University and has a Developmental Editing Certificate from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Bruce Oliver Newsome is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas Permian Basin. He is the author of “Security and Risk Management” (second edition, Perseublishing, 2023), “Homeland Security and Emergency Management” (second edition, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020), “Countering New(est) Terrorism” (CRC Press, 2018), “Research, Analysis, and Writing” (Sage, 2015), and more than 20 other books. He previously held standing faculty positions at the University of San Diego, University of California Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Before teaching, he spent five years at the RAND Corporation, advising national and local governments on defense, security, risk, training, and organizational structure and behavior. His commentaries appear in respected and influential publications in the US and UK. A brief sampling of outlets includes International Policy Digest, Defence IQ, Modern Age, Cieo, Comment Central, and Reaction Magazine.Dr.

Newsome is a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy, participates in Infragard and the Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force, and is certified in Infrastructure Liaison and open-source intelligence.

Jean L. Scholz leads F&A’s proposal development workshop development initiative. A retired scientist and biology educator, Dr. Scholz is a contributing author on 33 peer-reviewed research and review articles or book chapters, and recently guest-edited special issues of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology and Frontiers in Immunology.

Dr. Scholz was previously awarded two pilot research grants from Penn’s Center for AIDS Research. She is familiar with the grant proposal development, review, and reporting practices of funding agencies ranging from the NIH and DoD to foundations and pharmaceutical companies.

Jean holds a PhD in Genetics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Thea Harrington leads F&A’s proposal development in the Arts and Humanities. As Provost at  Keystone College, Dr.Harrington collaborated on and oversaw both  discipline-specific grants in support of faculty work and those that involved partnerships with external entities. The granting agencies included The Pennsylvania Department of Education, State of Pennsylvania, local museums and private foundations. Of specific interest to her is partnerships between the humanities and the sciences (STEAM) in the arts and in emergent technologies such as 3D printing, glass arts,  and prosthetics. 

Thea Harrington holds a Phd in Comparative Literature from the Unversity at Buffalo. She has 25 years experience in Higher Education, as faculty member and an administrator.

Dr. Miller holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in mathematics from University of Delaware and a B.A. in mathematics with a computer science concentration from Shippensburg University. After receiving a baccalaureate degree, he was employed by IBM for nearly a decade as a senior operations research analyst. While a graduate student, he found a love for teaching. Since 1997, Dr. Miller has been teaching full-time in mathematics, computer science, information technology, and cybersecurity. Dr. Miller has co-PIed two grants in cybersecurity education These grants targeted expanding cybersecurity education to K-12 students to both prepare them for later education/employment and interest them in entering the cybersecurity domain as college students and ultimately as professionals.

Dr. Miller, retired as an associate professor and department head of information technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology in 2020. He still teaches part-time for the college. His main teaching interests are in cryptography, risk analysis, forensics, contingency planning, and cybersecurity education. Miller was instrumental in the initial effort of ACM and ACM-SIGITE (ACM Special Interest Group for Information Technology Educators) to define Information Technology curriculum (ACM IT2008) and ABET accreditation criteria for IT. At Pennsylvania College of Technology, he guided the development of the Information Technology, and Information Assurance and Cybersecurity programs. He has authored/co-authored numerous papers on IT curriculum, classroom pedagogy, and experiential learning.

Over the last decade, Dr. Miller’s focus has primarily been on cybersecurity awareness and education in the K-12 arena. His focus had been twofold: first, make more security aware students/employees in general, and second, raise interest in K-12 students in becoming cybersecurity professionals. To that end, Dr. Miller has co-authored and implemented two NSF grants with colleagues from Penn College. The first was to create coursework for students of any major to get basic information security knowledge to assist them in the workforce. This was targeted at primarily grade 10-12 students as well as college students. At Penn College, the coursework has been implemented as a dual enrollment course where students can take the course in high school and receive college credit. The second grant targeted middle school through grade 10 students to help raise their awareness of the cybersecurity profession as well as teaching them everyday tools and techniques they could use to protect themselves in a digital life. This effort was implemented by teaching grade 6-12 teachers and then providing them with the materials to take to the students. This effectively made the teachers a force multiplier in terms of getting the message to the students. Both projects have exceeded expectations.

In retirement, Dr. Miller’s interest has also turned to enabling schools to pursue the kinds of projects he and his students have had such success with throughout his career. Many of those projects involve getting students interested in their education before entering college so that they can make more informed decisions about their college education.

This saves students significant time and expense during their college career. In today’s environment, many of these projects cannot proceed without external funding. Fiorini and Associates’ unique approach to grant funding dovetails very nicely with Miller’s philosophy of self-sufficiency.

Dr. Wilson is the Director of Education and Lead Researcher at Casa Guadalupe Center (Casa), which offers services for children, youth, adults, and elderly residents from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. She earned a Masters in Educational Leadership and Administration from Seton Hall University and a doctorate in Health Sciences and Health Services, from East Stroudsburg University. Through a series of grants and other funding sources, she has built and expanded Casa’s after-school and summer educational programs. She was also awarded grants to collaborate with an amazing group of people to launch and implement the first Young Adult Artists/Researchers Program at Casa.

The initiative involved research-based mentorship for a group of young adults who made use of arts-based research methodologies to discover community insights on issues such as homelessness, identity, substance abuse, and wellbeing among young adults. One of her foremost concerns throughout the experience was co-designing the collective interactions so that the research experience, the totality of it, supported the wellbeing of not only Casa’s target populations but also Casa’s researchers.