ERMELINDA DELAVINA
CMS Department
University of Houston-Downtown
Houston, TX 77002
(713) 226-5241
e-mail: delavinae@uhd.edu


EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

2003- Associate Professor, Computer and Mathematical Sciences Department, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX 77002.
1997- 2003 Assistant Professor, Computer and Mathematical Sciences Department, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX 77002.
1992-1997 Teaching Fellow/Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204
1990-1992 Research Assistant, Department of Mathematics, UH, Houston, TX 77204. Research supported in part by grant 003652085-ARP.

EDUCATION

1993-1997 University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, Ph.D. in Mathematics (Graph Theory/Combinatorics.) Advisor: Siemion Fajtlowicz
1990-1993 University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, MS in Mathematics (Graph Theory/Combinatorics.)
1984-1989 University of Texas/Pan American, Edinburg, TX, BS in Mathematics, Minor in CS, and a Teaching Certificate.

FIELD OF SPECIALIZATION 

Graph Theory, with an emphasis on graph theoretical induced substructures, variations of Ramsey theory, extremal graph theory, and invariants related to independent sets in graphs.

PUBLICATIONS

Refereed Publications

  1. E. DeLaVina, R. Pepper and B. Waller, A note on dominating sets and average distance, Discrete Mathematics (2009), Vol. 309 (8), 2615-2619.  (pdf preprint) 
  2. E. DeLaVina and I. Gramajo, Some elementary bounds on the matching number of bipartite graphs,  Bulletin of the ICA (2008), Vol. 54, 93-102.  (pdf preprint)
  3. E. DeLaVina and B. Waller, Spanning trees with many leaves and the average distance, Electronic Journal of Combinatorics (2008), Vol. 15 (1).
  4. E. DeLaVina, Q. Liu, R. Pepper, B. Waller and D. B. West, On some conjectures of Graffiti.pc on total domination, Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing. Congressus Numerantium, (2007), Vol. 185, 81-95.(pdf preprint)
  5. E. DeLaVina, R. Pepper and B. Waller, Independence, radius and Hamiltonian paths, MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem: proceedings of the conference "Computers in Scientific Discovery III", Ghent, February 6-9, 2006 (eds. G. Brinkmann, P. W. Fowler) (2007) Vol. 58, pp. 481-510. (pdf preprint)
  6. E. DeLaVina, Some history of the development of Graffiti, Graphs and Discovery DIMACS: Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, (2005) Vol. 69, 81-118. (pdf preprint)
  7. E. DeLaVina, S. Fajtlowicz and B. Waller,  On conjectures of Griggs and Graffiti (pdf), Graphs and Discovery DIMACS: Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, (2005), Vol. 69, 119-125.(pdf preprint)
  8. E. DeLaVina, Graffiti.pc: a variant of Graffiti, Graphs and Discovery DIMACS: Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, (2005), Vol. 69, 71-79. (pdf preprint)
  9. E. DeLaVina and B. Waller, On some conjectures of Graffiti.pc on the maximum order of induced subgraphs, Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing. Congressus Numerantium, (2004), Vol. 166, 11-32. (pdf preprint)
  10. E. DeLaVina and B. Waller, Independence, radius and path coverings in trees, Proceedings of the Thirty-third Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing (Boca Raton, FL, 2002).Congressus Numerantium, (2002), Vol. 156, 155-169. (pdf preprint)
  11. E. DeLaVina, Graffiti.pc, Graph Theory Notes of New York, (2002), XLII, 26-30. (pdf preprint)
  12. E. DeLaVina,  Ramseyan Properties of Connected Triangle-Free Graphs, Proceedings of the Thirty-second Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing (Baton Rouge, LA, 2001). Congressus Numerantium (2001), Vol. 148, 185-192.
  13. E. DeLaVina, On Graffiti’s 781 About Jets of Independent Sets and the Szekeres-Wilf Invariant, Bulletin of the ICA (1998), Vol. 24, 47-50.
  14. C. Campbell, E. DeLaVina and F. Harary, Maximum Induced Circumference, Pan American Journal of Mathematics (1997), Vol. 7, No. 2, 37-39.
  15. E. DeLaVina and S. Fajtlowicz, Ramseyan properties of graphs, Electronic Journal of Combinatorics (1996), Vol. 3.

Other Publications

  1. E. DeLaVina and D. Schaal, Working with local students, Proceedings of the conference on promoting undergraduate research in mathematics, American Mathematical Society (2007), pp. 377-380.

To Appear

  1. E. DeLaVina, R. Pepper and B. Waller, Lower bounds for the domination number (pdf preprint), to appear in Discussiones Mathematicae Graph Theory, 2009.
  2. E. DeLaVina, C. Larson, R. Pepper and B. Waller, Graffiti.pc on the total domination number of a tree (pdf preprint), to appear in Congressus Numerantium, 2009.
  3. S.i Yuan, W. Waller, E. DeLaVina, Heuristic algorithms for finding reliable lightpath under multiple failures, 2009.

Preprints

  1. E. DeLaVina,  C. E. Larson, R. Pepper and B. Waller and, A characterization of graphs where the independence number equals the radius, 2008.
  2. E. DeLaVina and B. Waller, A note on a conjecture of Hansen et. al., 2008.
  3. E. DeLaVina, C. Larson, R. Pepper and B. Waller, On total domination and support vertices of a tree  (pdf preprint), 2009.

In Preparation 

  1. E. DeLaVina, R. Pepper and B. Waller, On some conjectures about the maximum order of induced bipartite subgraphs, 2008.

PRESENTATIONS/TALKS

2009 Graph Theoretical conjectures of Graffiti.pc , CanaDAM2009: 2nd Canadian Discrete and Algorithmic Mathematics Conference, Montreal, Canada.
2009 Graffiti.pc on the total domination number of a tree (with R. Pepper and B. Waller), 40th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2008 An update of Graffiti.pc's sufficient conditions for Hamiltonian paths, Mathematics Colloquium , Texas A & M University-Galveston, Galveston, TX.
2008 A computer program for mathematical discovery, Symposium on Computational Approaches to Creativity in Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA.
2008 On Some Conjectures about the maximum order of induced bipartite subgraphs (with R. Pepper and B. Waller), 39th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2007 Computer-generated conjectures in graph theory, Workshop on Algebraic Graph Theory and Mathematical Chemistry, South Padre Island, TX.
2007
On Graffiti and Graffiti.pc, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
2007 Graffiti.pc on the total domination of a connected graph  (with B. Waller), 38th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2006 Using Graffiti.pc for undergraduate research, Invited Paper Session on Graph Theory Ideas for Undergraduate Research, Mathfest 2006, Knoxville, TN.
2006 Computer generated sufficient conditions for Hamiltonian paths (with R. Pepper and B. Waller*), 37th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2006 Computer generated sufficient conditions for Hamiltonian paths (with R. Pepper and B. Waller), Combinatexas 2006, TSU, Houston, TX
2006 Panel discussion leader for software use in teaching mathematics, Computers and Scientific Discovery Workshop III, University of Ghent, Gent, Belgium
2005 The Dalmatian heuristic of Graffiti and Graffiti.pc, Colloquium of the Combinatorial algorithms and algorithmic graph theory (CAAGT) working group", Gent, Belgium
2004

Lower bounds on the matching number of bipartite graphs (with Iride Gramajo), 2nd Houston Area Discrete Math, Graph Theory and Applications Seminar, Houston, TX.
2004 The Dalmatian heuristic of Graffiti and Graffiti.pc, invited lecture at workshop on Computers and Discovery II, DIMACS-GERAD, Montreal, Canada
2004 Applications of the conjecture-making program, Graffiti.pc, Joint AMS-SMM International Meeting, Houston, TX.
2004 On some conjectures of Graffiti.pc concerning the bipartite number and path number of a graph (with Bill Waller), Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2004 Panel Participant, Central Issues in Developmental Math, Title V Faculty Leadership Program, Houston Community College, Houston, TX
2003 Wed Based Mathematics Courses, College Algebra and Structure & Application of the Number System (with F. Patterson and Maurice Ekwo), Texas Southern University Department of Mathematics Seminar, Houston, TX.
2002 Independence, Radius and Path Coverings in Trees (with Bill Waller), Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Boca Raton, FL.
2001 Application of Graffiti, Working Group on Computer-Generated Conjectures from Graph Theoretic and Chemical Databases I, DIMACS Center, Rutgers University.
2001 Demonstration of Graffiti, Graph Theory Day 42, DIMACS Center, Rutgers University.
2001     Ramseyan Properties of Connected Triangle-free Graphs, Presenter, Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Baton Rouge, LA.
2000     Ramseyan Properties of Connected Triangle-free Graphs, CAM Invited Colloquia Speaker, Rice University.
2000     A Developemental Math Website, TTLC presentation, UHD.
1999     Women in Mathematics, AMP Student Conference Invited Speaker, University of Texas/Pan American.
1996     Ramseyan Properties of Graph-Colorings, Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing, Baton Rouge, LA.
1992     A Conjecture Making Program, Graduate Student Presentation, SACNAS meeting, Albuquerque, NM. Funded by SACNAS.

FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS/HONORS

2008 UHD QEP Curriculm Grant Recipient for Fall 2008.
2004 UHD Organized Research Grant Recipient for Fall 2004.
2003 DIMACS Reconnect Conference 2003 Consultant
2001- 2003 PQE Grant Participant, UHD, Project Title: Math Concepts Course Redesigned
2001 Success Builders Award (Featured on the Dec. 2001 UHD Commencement Program)
2000-2001 Edgrid Grant Participant, UHD. Project Title: Math Concepts
2000  IT Grant, Recipient, UHD. Project Title: A Developmental Math Web Site
1999-2000 Texas Section Project NExT Fellowship Recipient.
1998-1999 National Project NExT Fellowship Recipient (Silver Dot).
1998 UHD Organized Research Grant Recipient.
1992 Honorable Mention, NSF Minority Graduate Fellowship.

SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY (UHD)

2008 - Strategic Planning Oversight Committee, UHD.
2008 - 2009 Search Committee for Applied Math position (chairperson )
2008 - Math 1301 Exam & Review Committee, UHD.
2007-2008 Strategic Planning Committee, UHD. External Relation subcommittee.
2008 Screening Committee for Director of Service-Learning (chairperson )
2006-2008 Quality Enhancement Program Committee, UHD (senate represenative).
2006-2008 Faculty senate taskforce on faculty workload issues (co-chair), UHD.
2006- 2008 Faculty senate executive committee, UHD.
2005-2006 Search Committee for SS Dept., UHD.
2004-2005, 2006-2007 Search Committee for NS Dept., UHD.
2003-2005 UHD Faculty Grievance Hearing Committee (chairperson 2005)
2004 CMS Department Faculty Grievance Committee
2003-present CMS Rank & Tenure Committee (chairperson 2003-2004)
2003-present Pre-Calculus Curriculum Committee (chairperson 2008-  )
2000-2006 Scholarship Selection Committee for the UHD Scholars Academy (chairperson 2004 - 2006 ).
2001- present UHD Student Research Conference Organizing Committee, UHD (chairperson or co-chair 2004 - 2006, 2008).
2001- 2002, 2004 CMS Scholar's Academy Faculty Mentor, UHD
2001- 2003 Scholarship Committee for Future Students (chairperson 2002), UHD.
2001 Search Committee for Urban Education Dept., UHD.
2000-2001 Academic Honesty Committee, UHD (chairperson).
2000-2001  Committee on Committees, UHD.
2000 Search Committee for Dean of University College, UHD.
1999-2000 Parking and Violations Appeals Committee, UHD.
1999-2000 Library Committee, UHD.
1998-2000, 2006- 2008 Faculty senator representing CMS department, UHD.
1998-1999  Annual Academic Awards and Scholarships Committee, UHD.
1997-2000, 2002- 2006 MAA student chapter faculty sponsor, UHD.
1998-2000  Red Rose Scholarship Committee UHD.
1997- present Program/Curriculum Committee, Mathematics, CMS department, UHD.
1997- 2005 Math 1300 Exam & Review Committee, UHD (chairperson 1998-2000, 2004-2005 ).

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE (Organizations)

2007- Reviewer for
  • Math Reviews
  • Discrete Mathematics
  • Bulletin of the ICA
2006 Scribe for Discussion Session on Working with Local Students, Promoting Undergraduate Research in Mathematics Conference, Chicago, Ill
2004 Abstract reviewer for undergraduate student poster presentations for the Annual SACNAS Conference, Austin, TX.
2002 Chairperson for the SIAM Discrete Math Meeting Session on Extremal Graph Theory, San Diego, CA.
2000, 2001, 2003 Panel Coordinator and Moderator for UHD speaker sessions, Houston Hispanic Forum's Career Day, Houston. TX
1998     Chairperson for the Graduate Student Oral Presentations at the 25th Annual SACNAS Conference, Washington, D.C.

ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP

1992-present The Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA)
1998-2006, 2008 -  The Mathematical Association of American (MAA)
1998-2000 The Mathematical Association of American Texas Section
1997-1998  The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS)
1993-1997, 1999 The American Mathematical Society (AMS)
1996-1997, 2002 The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

 VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

2000  Judge for the 2nd Annual UHD-MAA High School Math Contest.
1998  College Bowl Score keeper at UHD.
1995  MATHLAB Test Review Session Presenter, UH.
1994  Houston Hispanic Forum's Career Day representing UH.
1992-1993 EXCEL Mentor Program, UH.
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