Registration: 2026 Amundson Lecture Series (Prof. Howard A. Stone)

The Department of Mathematics at the University of Houston is honored to host the 2026 Amundson Lecture Series featuring Professor Howard A. Stone (Princeton University).

About the Speaker: Professor Stone is the Neil A. Omenn '68 University Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. A world leader in fluid dynamics, his research bridges mathematics, engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology—from microfluidics and "lab-on-a-chip" medical diagnostics to underground fungal networks and biofilm behavior. He has published nearly 700 papers with over 97,000 citations.

Honors & Distinctions: Professor Stone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is also a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. He was the inaugural recipient of the G.K. Batchelor Prize in Fluid Dynamics (2008) and received the APS Fluid Dynamics Prize (2016).

Event Schedule & Logistics:

  • Dates: Tuesday, March 24 – Wednesday, March 25, 2026.

  • Venues: Lectures will be held at the Alumni Center, Honors College, and Student Center depending on the time.

  • Receptions: A reception will follow the General Audience Lecture (Tuesday) and the Departmental Colloquium (Wednesday).

Important: Events are free, but seating is limited. Please register below to reserve your spot.

For more information about the series, visit: https://www.uh.edu/nsm/math/news-events/seminars-events/amundsonlectureseries/

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Which lecture(s) will you attend? *

  • Tuesday, March 24 4:00 PM | General Audience Lecture "Fluid Mechanics Everywhere: Surprises, Beauty, and Endless Applications" Venue: Alumni Center - O'Quinn Great Hall Abstract In this talk, I will illustrate the beauty of fluid mechanics as an intellectual discipline while highlighting the remarkable breadth of applications informed by its principles. I will introduce concepts such as self-similarity, thin-film flows, and Marangoni motions (flows driven by surface tension gradients), as well as connections to biology and medicine. Throughout the talk, I will weave together experiments, physical understanding, and mathematics to inspire new fluid-mechanical insights and applications.
  • Wednesday, March 25 10:00 AM | Graduate Seminar "Thin-Film Flows and Marangoni Motions from the Perspective of Self-Similarity" Venue: Honors College - The Commons Abstract One beautiful theme that connects the study of partial differential equations to a wide variety of physical problems is self-similarity. Traditional similarity solutions typically involve nonlinear partial differential equations with two independent variables—for example, capillary (surface-tension-driven) flows in narrow wedges. I will describe such cases and then present an experimentally motivated similarity solution involving three independent variables, for which we construct an analytical solution that agrees well with measurements. Finally, I will discuss new examples of surfactant spreading at interfaces, where the mathematical description requires the study of self-similar solutions of the complex-valued Burgers equation.
  • Wednesday, March 25 3:00 PM | Departmental Colloquium "Physicochemical Hydrodynamics: Intersections of Fluid Mechanics and Physical Chemistry with Applications to Biological Condensate" Venue: Student Center - Multipurpose Room Abstract The principles of fluid dynamics and physical chemistry apply to a wide range of biophysical and soft matter systems. One modern area of intersection is biological condensates, also known as membraneless organelles. I will introduce this topic and connect it to the formation of the spindle in a dividing cell—a fundamental aspect of molecular biology. I will discuss experiments documenting a condensed protein phase on growing microtubules, followed by the appearance of the Rayleigh-Plateau instability, which produces discrete droplets along a 25-nanometer-diameter microtubule. These drops drive branching nucleation, an important mechanism for spindle development, and can cause capillary-driven bundling of microtubules—a mechanism distinct from conventional views of molecularly controlled bundling. Finally, I will describe a mathematical model for the response of molecular rotors used to measure the viscosity of biological membranes.

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Will you be staying for the receptions? *
  • Tue 5:00–6:00 PM in the Life Member Room (Alumni Center) 
  • Wed 4:00–5:00 PM in the Multipurpose Room (Student Center)
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