SMU mathematician Douglas A. Reinelt named associate provost
The 2015-16 Faculty Senate president will take on new responsibilities effective Aug. 1, 2016.
In his duties as associate provost, Professor Reinelt will manage faculty recruitment and hiring, assist the Provost in administering faculty tenure and promotion, organize general faculty events, and coordinate faculty honors programs such as the University Scholar-Teacher Award and the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Awards. In addition, he will oversee department reviews and lead the annual Department Chair Review.
Reinelt will also chair the Educational Programs Committee, which advises the Provost on matters involving curricular change, new program initiation, and program discontinuance.
“Professor Doug Reinelt is ideally equipped to serve as SMU’s new Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs,” said Dr. Currall, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “He has a deep commitment to the University stemming from having served as a faculty member at SMU for more than 30 years. His leadership will also be informed by his experience as a two-time chair of the Department of Mathematics in Dedman College of Humanities and Science. Doug has held a variety of other leadership positions on campus including, most recently, President of the Faculty Senate and a member of the SMU Board of Trustees. I look forward to partnering with Doug to further develop faculty excellence at SMU.”
Reinelt, an expert in mathematical modeling of fluid problems, joined the Dedman College mathematics faculty in 1983. He served as department chair from 1999 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2015. His research focuses on scientific computation and perturbation analysis of free surface fluid problems including fluid dynamics of bubbles and thin films, coating flows, and foam rheology.
Reinelt has published dozens of articles that have appeared in journals such as Physical Review Letters, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Physics of Fluids, and the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science and has contributed chapters in Foams and Emulsions and other special volumes. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Sandia National Laboratories.
In addition to serving as mathematics department chair, Reinelt has served as Undergraduate Director in the Department of Mathematics as well as on the Faculty Council, Advisory Committee for Promotion and Tenure in Dedman College Division III, and the Undergraduate Council. He has also served on the Operational Excellence for the Second Century (OE2C) Executive Committee and many other department, college and university committees. In 2007, he received the Mathematics Department’s Betty McKnight Speairs Endowed Teaching Excellence Award.
As a Habitat for Humanity (HfH) volunteer for 25 years, Reinelt has helped build hundreds of houses as a construction volunteer and house leader primarily in South and West Dallas. He also serves as faculty adviser to SMU’s HfH Student Chapter and has been the adult leader for SMU student HfH trips to Paraguay, El Salvador and Costa Rica to build homes. He received the SMU Faculty Volunteer of the Year Award in 2007 for his work with HfH and the Dallas Chapter’s highest honor, the Mary Brock Award, in 2011 for his commitment to the mission of eradicating substandard housing in the Dallas Area.
“I have seen the great progress that SMU has made during my many years as a faculty member and know that the university has the potential to become an even greater institution. I am enthusiastic about joining Provost Currall and his team as we strive to improve the overall academic excellence of SMU,” Reinelt said. “I believe that my experience as a faculty member, department chair, and President of the Faculty Senate will be helpful as we work together to create an even better environment where faculty members can realize their full potential and outstanding new faculty are excited about joining SMU.”
Reinelt earned his B.S. degree in physics and mathematics from the University of the Pacific in 1978 and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in 1983. He has been a visiting scholar or visiting faculty member at Stanford University, Sandia National Laboratories and Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France.
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