Abba Gumel is a Professor & The Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair in Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park. His research, which spans three main areas of applied mathematics (namely, mathematical biology, applied dynamical systems and computational mathematics), is focused on the use of mathematical modeling and rigorous approaches, together with statistical analysis, to gain insight into the dynamics of real-life phenomena arising in the natural and engineering sciences. The main emphasis of Gumel's work is on the mathematical theory of epidemics – specifically, he uses mathematical theories and methodologies to gain insights into the qualitative behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems arising from the mathematical modelling of phenomena in the natural and engineering sciences, with emphasis on the transmission dynamics and control of emerging and re-emerging human (and other animal) infectious diseases of public health and socio-economic interest.
Biography
Gumel was a Foundation Professor of Mathematics at the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Arizona State University, before becoming The Michael and Eugenia Brin Endowed E-Nnovate Chair in Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park in 2022.
Professor Gumel is an elected Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), Fellow of Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics, African Academy of Sciences, Nigerian Academy of Science, African Scientific Institute and the ASU-Santa Fe Center of Biosocial Complex Systems.
In 2021, Professor Gumel was chosen to give the AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics of the American Mathematical Society. He was named Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Pretoria (2015-2023) and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Gumel has written over 160 peer-reviewed research, numerous book chapters and edited three books.
Books
Abba B. Gumel. Mathematics of Continuous and Discrete Dynamical Systems. Contemporary Mathematics Series, American Mathematical Society. Volume 618 (310 Pages), 2014. Abba B. Gumel and Suzanne Lenhart (Eds.). Modeling Paradigms and Analysis of Disease Transmission Models. DIMACS Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. Volume 75. American Mathematical Society, 2010 (268 Pages). Abba B. Gumel (Chief Editor), Carlos-Castillo-Chavez (ed.), Ronald E. Mickens (ed.) and Dominic Clemence (ed.). Mathematical Studies on Human Disease Dynamics: Emerging Paradigms and Challenges. American Mathematical Society Contemporary Mathematics Series, Volume 410, 2006 (389 Pages).
Promotion of biomedical sciences in Nigeria
In 2014, Professor Gumel became one of eight US-based scientists who signed a memorandum of understanding with seven Nigerian universities aimed at helping them build world-class capacity in biomedical sciences research and pedagogy.