About David Massey
David B. Massey was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1959. He attended Duke University as an undergraduate mathematics major from 1977 to 1981, graduating {it summa cum laude}. He remained at Duke as a graduate student from 1981 to 1986. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1986 for his results in the area of complex analytic singularities.
Professor Massey taught for two years at Duke as a graduate student, and then for two years, 1986-1988, as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 1988, he was awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and went to conduct research on singularities at Northeastern University. In 1991, he assumed a regular faculty position in the Mathematics Department at Northeastern. He has remained at Northeastern University ever since, where he is now a Full Professor.
Professor Massey has won awards for his teaching, both as a graduate student and as a faculty member at Northeastern. He has published over 30 research papers, and two research-level books. In addition, he was a chapter author of the national award-winning book on teaching: “Dear Jonas: What can I say?, Chalk Talk: E-advice from Jonas Chalk, Legendary College Teacher”, edited by D. Qualters and M. Diamond, New Forums Press, (2004).
Professor Massey founded the Worldwide Center of Mathematics, LLC, in the fall of 2008, in order to give back to the mathematical community,.
The study of those properties that are preserved through continuous deformations of objects. It can be used to abstract the inherent connectivity of objects while ignoring their detailed form.