Dr. Vinodh Chellamuthu is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dixie State University (DSU), St. George, Utah. He received his M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Tulane University and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research interests are in Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Modeling, Differential Equations, and Dynamical Systems. During his tenure at DSU, he has mentored over 40 undergraduates in 28 research projects. These projects have led to over 50 presentations at various conferences, which includes several awards for outstanding student presentations and three publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Chellamuthu has mentored several undergraduate research projects, including predicting Zion National Park visitation and developing control mechanisms to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases coming directly from Business, Industry, and Government Agencies. As a curriculum developer and program coordinator of the B.S. in Applied and Computational Mathematics degree at DSU, he has created and established undergraduate research opportunities by coordinating and collaborating with local businesses and industries.

One of his students states that “I consider Dr. Chellamuthu as my most influential professional mentor and role model. He helped lead me to discover my passion for applying mathematics to sports analytics and guided my development into an independent researcher. He was a major influence in my decision to pursue a business analyst career.” As a passionate proponent of undergraduate research, Dr. Chellamuthu firmly committed to promoting the quality education of future scientists by creating opportunity channels for career development through research as a high impact teaching pedagogy. In his nomination, a senior colleague wrote: “Dr. Chellamuthu is very passionate and determined about digging out every tiny bit of students’ curiosity. His enthusiasm for undergraduate research is infectious. He is a great mentor who always thinks students first and tries his best to guide and help to build great pathways for students’ future learning, career, and successes. He is always ambitious about preparing his students for all the challenges they may face throughout their lives.”