Meet our Faculty

Daniel Ford - Department Chair

Renshaw 210
503-883-2706

dford@linfield.edu

Education: B.A. University of California, Santa Barbara; M.B.A. Cornell University; M.I.T. UCLLN (Belgium); M.C.S. Colorado State University

Professor Daniel Ford joined the Linfield faculty in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and holds three different master’s degrees - a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University, a Master of Information Technology from UCLLN in Belgium, and a Master of Computer Science from Colorado State University. Prior to teaching at Linfield, Professor Ford spent four years in Liège, Belgium working for Siemens Nixdorf. He specializes in artificial intelligence, theoretical computer science, computational complexity, and graph theory, and teaches a variety of algorithms, programming, and database courses. On campus, Professor Ford advises the Linfield College Computer Science Club, whose teams have regularly placed at qualifiers for the International Collegiate Programming Contest. He is also directly involved in training students for the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and the National Cyber League. Additionally, he is a member of the Academic Alliance of the National Center for Women and Information Technology, a non-profit organization that promotes diversity in computing.

Xiaoyue Luo - Professor

Taylor 211
503-883-2576

xluo@linfield.edu

Education: Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, Michigan State University; M.S., Statistics, Michigan State University; B.S., Mathematics, Beijing Jiaotong University. PhD Michigan State University

Joelle Murray - Associate Professor

Graf 105
503-883-2427

jmurray@linfield.edu

Education:

Ph.D., Physics, Michigan State University B.S., Physics & Mathematics, Beloit College

Next year, I'll be teaching INQS 125 (Nuclear Society), PHYS 210 (Introduction to Mechanics), PHYS 215 (Modern Physics), PHYS 325 (Computational Physics), and PHYS 420 (Classical Mechanics). I incorporate active learning pedagogies in each of my courses in order to best challenge and support students while they learn how to do physics. My current research revolves around my interest in complexity, particularly in biological systems, and is conducted in collaboration with undergraduate students (mainly during the summer). Currently, we are building a computational model for insect swarming, which we use to investigate emergent properties of swarms. 

Jennifer Nordstrom - Professor

Taylor 205
503-883-2654

jfirkins@linfield.edu

Education:

Ph.D. University of Oregon M.S. University of Maryland, Baltimore County B.S. University of Redlands

Download Professor's Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Nordstrom's research interests are in the areas of algebra and combinatorics. She received her Ph.D. in ring theory from the University of Oregon. Dr. Nordstrom primarily teaches Abstract Algebra, Discrete Math, Number Theory and Game Theory but maintains an interest in a wide variety of mathematical fields. More recently she has published on game theory and popular culture and has written an open-access textbook for an introduction to game theory course. She has mentored undergraduate research in combinatorial game theory and graph theory. She currently runs the Math PLUS mentoring program.