From colin.a.shaw@us.pwcglobal.com Fri Oct 19 12:34 EDT 2001

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 12:32:50 -0400

Subject: Congratulations

To: rsellis@math.umass.edu

Cc: dept@math.umass.edu

Message-id: <OFF938AAB3.72000D09-ON85256AEA.00592A23@us.pw.com>

Professor Ellis,

I'm not sure if you'd remember me or not, but I was a student of yours a

few years ago in Math 300, 431, and 421. I hadn't checked up on the UMass

Math department home page for a while until this morning when I discovered

that your page had been updated. I'd like to congratulate you on your

recent accomplishments and take the opportunity to thank you for being an

outstanding educator as well.

Although I made the choice to not continue a field of study in pure

mathematics (for economic and pragmatic reasons), I would like you to know

that the material I learned in your classes made that choice a difficult

one. (For what it's worth, I'm doing well in the actuarial consulting

field). Seeing that you are teaching a new course (Math 532) this semester

makes me wish I were still a student. I am equally impressed by your

ability to balance the concerns of the math department (undergraduates and

graduate students) with seemingly unrelated liberal arts study. Both UMass

and the Math department are truly blessed to have your services.

Good luck in all future endeavors,

Colin Shaw

BS in Mathematics, 1999