Going into the fall semester, the Department of Mathematics at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has had a few changes in leadership. Lee DeVille, the current Director of Undergraduate Studies, will also temporarily serve as Associate Chair for Instruction for the 2025-2026 academic year. Rui Loja Fernandes will serve as the new Editor in Chief for the Illinois Journal of Mathematics, and Victoria Prince as the Acting Director of NetMath.
Victoria Prince has been named Acting Director of the NetMath program, where she also serves as Associate Director. A two-time Illinois alum with a background in student services, academic affairs, and program management, she brings a wealth of experience to her leadership role. As Acting Director, Victoria is committed to guiding NetMath’s continued growth, supporting its students and instructors, and advancing the program’s mission to expand access to high-quality mathematics education worldwide.
Rui Loja Fernandes has been named as the new Editor in Chief for the Illinois Journal of Mathematics (IJM). The Illinois Journal of Mathematics was founded in 1957 by R. Baer, J.L. Doob, A. Taub, G. Whitehead, and O. Zariski, and quickly established itself as a preeminent mathematics journal. The inaugural volume featured papers by many of the world’s leading figures in key areas of mathematics at the time: William Feller, Paul Lévy, and Paul Malliavin in probability theory; Richard Bellman, R. P. Boas, Jack Hale, and Edwin Hewitt in analysis; Marvin Marcus, Olga Taussky, and Oscar Zariski in algebra; and Paul Erdős, L. J. Mordell, and John Tate in number theory. Since then, IJM has published many influential papers, most notably the proof of the Four-Color Conjecture by K. Appel and W. Haken.
Fernandes is excited to take the helm of the journal stating, “This past spring, our colleague Steve Bradlow retired after a distinguished career at Illinois. Among Steve’s many important contributions to the department was his service as Editor-in-Chief of the Illinois Journal of Mathematics (IJM). Following his retirement, I have had the privilege of being chosen to serve as the new Editor-in-Chief.
“The main mission of IJM is the dissemination of high-level research in mathematics, and I intend to continue advancing this mission with the generous help of the editorial board. Serving on the editorial board of a journal like IJM is both an honor and a demanding, unpaid service. Yet, much like refereeing, it represents an incredibly important contribution to our community. Indeed, it is one of the pillars of the current peer-review and scholarly publishing system. From time to time, the editorial board must be renewed, and IJM will continue to seek the help of distinguished mathematicians to fulfill its mission. In this endeavor, I am also counting on the continued support of my colleagues at Illinois.”