Rate My Professor Scott Kersey

Dr. Scott Kersey is a Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Georgia Southern University, a position he has held since joining the faculty in August 2003. Prior to this, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University following the completion of his doctoral studies. Kersey obtained his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1999, accompanied by an M.S. from the same institution. He also holds an M.S. and a B.S. in Mathematics from Arizona State University. Throughout his career, he has advanced to full professorship and received recognition including a 2023-2024 University Award of Excellence.

Kersey's academic interests center on approximation theory, particularly spline functions, near-interpolation, dual bases, and sparse grids, alongside numerical analysis, computational mathematics, computer-aided geometric design, applications in machine and statistical learning, high-dimensional data analytics, and the development of open educational resources. His scholarly output includes peer-reviewed articles such as "Approximation of multivariate functions on sparse grids by Kernel-based Quasi-interpolation" with B. Jeong and J. Yoon (SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, 2021), "Spline Approximation on Sparse Grids" with C. Ehirim (2024), and "Application of Sparse Grids to Approximation and Optimization" (2026). Additionally, he has published studies on the effectiveness of open educational resources in college calculus (2019) and co-authored open textbooks like Calculus I (GA Southern) and Introduction to Statistics (GA Southern). Garnering over 500 citations on Google Scholar, his research impacts key areas in computational and applied mathematics. Kersey has served as principal investigator for funded projects, including the Affordable Learning Georgia Transformation Grant with co-PI Stephen Carden and an NSF SBIR Phase II grant on indoor air contaminant oxidation. He actively contributes to the university through the Statistical Consulting Unit, administration of the WeBWorK server for undergraduate mathematics courses, and maintenance of LaTeX thesis templates for graduate students.