MM, MS, PhD
Students are encouraged to choose broadly based programs in pure or applied mathematics. Careful advising by the faculty helps students select the appropriate level for beginning graduate course work. Students may benefit from contacts between Mathematics Department faculty and nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and interdisciplinary degree programs including Computer Science or Data Science are available.
Master’s Degree
The department offers a traditional Master of Science degree. Both a thesis and a non-thesis option are available for the MS. The program requires 30 hours of graduate coursework, and it is normally possible to finish the degree in two years. Many students earn an MS as they make progress towards a PhD.
The department’s unique Master of Mathematics (M.M.) degree is an online professional program primarily intended for working high school teachers. Students may earn the full MM degree online, or they can enroll in the associated Mathematics Graduate Certificate program, which entails 18 graduate credit hours, a typical requirement to teach dual enrollment classes.
Doctoral Degree
Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy degree must develop a broad background in mathematics as well as an intense specialization in the chosen research area, and make original research contributions in their dissertations. They may work in any of the following broad areas: algebra, analysis, applied mathematics, data science, differential geometry, number theory, numerical analysis, partial differential equations, probability, statistics, mathematical biology, and topology. The faculty and their areas of research are listed here.
Our faculty’s research is supported by grants and other awards from various sources.
For more complete information regarding our graduate programs, please look over the Graduate Student Handbook.
Employment Opportunities
A Master’s degree in mathematics with a broadly based program enhances one’s opportunities both for employment and for advancement once employed. It also leads to work on a wide variety of interesting problems in business, industry or government. A Ph.D. degree is often required for professors at colleges and universities. Industry and government are also important sources of employment for Ph.D. mathematicians.
Recent Master’s graduates of our program have obtained industrial or government jobs with excellent starting salaries. Other Master’s graduates have also obtained attractive teaching positions. Recent Ph.D. graduates have been employed by university mathematics departments and by industrial and government organizations. Salaries range from an academic starting salary of $65,000 to industrial salaries of over $100,000.
Recent Master’s graduates have secured positions with local school districts, and various colleges and universities including Georgia St. University, Pellissippi State Comm College, Roane St. Comm College, and the University of Tennessee. Industrial positions have included: CareerBuilder LLC, Consumer Product Safety, Fannie Mae, Esteco-North America, GE Aviation, HAVI-Global and IBM. Many MS graduates are pursuing PhDs.
Recent Ph.D. graduates have secured positions in academia, industry and government. Some of the academic positions (including post-docs) are with Clemson, Duke, Duquesne Univ, Louisiana St Univ, Murray State Univ, UNC-Greensboro, Penn State University, SAMSI, U. of Connecticut, U. of Delaware, U. of Pittsburgh, U.S. Military Academy (West Point), and U. of California Santa Barbara. Industrial and government positions have included BB&T Bank, Equifax, Mathematics Research Policy Group, Naval Air Warfare Systems Command, National Security Agency and quantitative analysis at investment firms.