Edward Barry Saff, PhD, is Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Center for Constructive Approximation at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Saff is an Inaugural Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, and the recipient of both a Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowship. He is Editor-in-Chief of two research journals, Constructive Approximation and Computational Methods and Function Theory, and has authored or coauthored over 250 journal articles and eight books. Dr. Saff also serves as an organizer for a sequence of international research conferences that help to foster the careers of mathematicians from developing countries.

Arthur Da vid Snider, PhD, PE, is Professor Emeritus at the University of South Florida, where he served on the faculties of the Departments of Mathematics, Physics, and Electrical Engineering. Previously an analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Draper Lab and recipient of the USF Krivanek Distinguished Teacher Award, he consults in industry and has authored or coauthored over 100 journal articles and eight books. With the support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Snider also pioneered a course in fine art appreciation for engineers.