Susan Jane Colley

  • Emerita Andrew & Pauline Delaney Professor of Mathematics

Areas of Study

Education

  • PhD, Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983
  • BS, Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979

Biography

Susan Colley’s main research interests lie in algebraic geometry and related areas, with special emphasis on enumerative geometry and intersection theory.

Current work concerns the Semple/monster tower construction, which arises in both algebraic and differential geometry as well as control theory.

She also served as Editor of The American Mathematica Monthly, 2017–21.

At Oberlin, Susan Colley taught a broad range of undergraduate mathematics courses, including calculus, differential equations, linear, abstract, and computational algebra, advanced calculus, differential geometry, topology, and a first-year seminar, “What Is Mathematics and Why Won’t It Go Away?”

S. J. Colley, “Enumerating stationary multiple-points,” Adv. in Math. 66 (1987), no. 2, 149–170.

S. J. Colley and G. Kennedy, “The enumeration of simultaneous higher-order contacts between plane curves,” Compositio Mathematica 93 (1994), 171–209.

S. J. Colley, L. Ernström, G. Kennedy, “Contact formulas for rational plane curves via stable maps,” Journal of Algebraic Geometry 10 (2001), no. 2, 365–396.

S. J. Colley, G. Kennedy, and C. Shanbrom, “The structural invariants of Goursat distributions,” J. of Singularities, 28 (2025), 148–180.

S. J. Colley, G. Kennedy, and C. Shanbrom, “The small growth invariants of Goursat distributions,” J. of Singularities, 29 (2026), 123–148.

S. J. Colley, Vector Calculus, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 1997
     2nd ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2001
     3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2005
     4th ed., xvii + 603 pp, Pearson, Boston, 2011
     5th ed. (with S. Cañez), xvi + 636 pp, Pearson, Boston, 2022

Notes

Count Me In with Della and Deanna Interviews Susan Colley

Andrew & Pauline Delaney Professor of Mathematics Susan Colley was interviewed on Count Me In with Della and Deanna, a podcast about “Broadening the understanding of what it means to be a mathematician.” Colley shares her story and discusses the influence of a strong educational beginning, the importance of effective communication, and the value of daily intentional efforts to recharge and reset.

News

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