CSULB Math and Stat Podcast CSULB Math and Stat

On this episode, we interview Pure Math graduate student Jacob Cornejo.  We get to hear about his journey with math and how it almost didn't happen, why he went from a Bachelors in stats to a Masters in pure math and more! 

On this episode, we spoke with Dr. Will Murray, who is the new undergraduate chair and former undergraduate advisor.  

Can you please introduce yourself? (name, years at CSULB, classes that you teach, where did you go to school?)


Why did you choose to study math? What was your math journey like(was it super easy? Super difficult? What made it being so hard worth the struggle?)

Why did you become a professor?

Was there anything you did as an undergraduate to help you get ready for grad school? Or if you even wanted to go to grade school?

What do you think makes pure math and applied math different?

Do you have any research you are working on? If so what is it? If not, then could you talk about your PHD or any other research you did?

What is your favorite theorem

Here is part two of our interview with Dr. Curtis Bennett.  Here are the questions covered in this portion: Being the dean of CNSM, what skills do you think are the most critical to develop as STEM students with a workforce that is head toward more automation?



Are you currently doing any research? If so, can you tell us about it? If not, can you talk about your Ph.D. or any other research you’ve done?

Do you have any advice for students (undergrad & grad) in regards to picking a career? Is there anything you wish you knew back when you were a student?

Part One of our interview with the dean of CNSM, Dr. Curtis Bennett.  Here are the questions covered in this part: 

Can you please introduce yourself? (name, years at CSULB, classes that you taught, where did you go to school?)


What exactly does the dean of a college do?

How long were you a professor before you became the dean of CNSM?

Why did you choose to study math? What was your math journey like (Was it easy or difficult? In times of difficulty, what made it worth the struggle?)

Did you ever have a semester that made you consider not being a mathematician?

Was there anything as an undergraduate that helped you prepare for grad school?

What do you think makes pure math and applied math different?

For students going into a math program but unsure which field to go into, what would you say the most important classes for each discipline?

We spoke with Ricky Lee, a graduate student here at CSULB.  Here are the questions that we asked Ricky 1). Can you please introduce yourself? (name, years at CSULB, TA for any classes, what were they? Where did you go to school before CSULB?)

2). Why did you choose to study math? What was your math journey like(was it super easy? Super difficult? What made it being so hard worth the struggle?)

3). What career options are you looking at?  Are you going to go for a PHD?  Professor? Industry?

4). What do you think makes pure math and applied math different?

What do you think the most important course work is for each discipline?

5). Are you going to do the thesis? Or the Comps? How did you decide?

6). Do you have any research you are working on? If so what is it? If not, do you have any ideas for a thesis?

7). What is your favorite theorem?

On this episode, we speak with Dr. Chang.  We speak about her journey through math and how her background growing up influenced her school and career decisions. Here are the questions that we asked her:  Can you please introduce yourself? (name, years at CSULB, classes that you teach, where did you go to school?)


Why did you choose to study math? What was your math journey like(was it super easy? Super difficult? What made it being so hard worth the struggle?)

Why did you become a professor?

Was there anything you did as an undergraduate to help you get ready for grad school? Or if you even wanted to go to grade school?

What do you think makes pure math and applied math different?

Do you have any research you are working on? If so what is it? If not, then could you talk about your PHD or any other research you did?

What is your favorite theorem