A mathematics professor since 1999 who chaired the department from 2008 until 2012, Voss was offered the position following a national search.
With research interests in partial differential equations, applied mathematics and complex analysis, Voss sees an advantage in applying his mathematical expertise to the complexities of such a diverse college.
“There are two advantages to being a mathematician,” he says. “First, I’m comfortable using data to think about things in an analytical manner. Second, mathematics is at the very core of life at the University. All engineering students and most management students pass through mathematics. So being a mathematician gives you a special view of the breadth of the student body.”
Those skills will prove immediately valuable, as one of his first priorities is to guide the college through the University’s current strategic-planning initiative.
Approximately 65 percent of Bucknell students have majors in the College of Arts & Sciences, which comprises the divisions of arts & humanities, natural sciences & mathematics, and social sciences. The college includes 281 faculty members in 31 departments and interdisciplinary programs offering 47 majors and 62 minors.
Voss envisions even greater interdisciplinary engagement with the College of Engineering and the Kenneth W. Freeman College of Management in the future.
He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics from Yale University and earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and history from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Voss is co-author of the forthcoming book Blaschke Products, Poncelet’s Theorem and the Numerical Range: Geometric Conventions, which will be published by the American Mathematical Society.
He succeeds George Shields, who became vice president for academic affairs and provost at Furman University in May 2016.