Bio

Dr. Lawrence Udeigwe is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Manhattan College. He obtained a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. Computer Science in 2004 from Duquesne University; an M.S. in Applied Mathematics in 2006 from the University of Delaware; and an M.A in Mathematics in 2008 and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Information Science in 2014 from the University of Pittsburgh.  

Dr. Udeigwe’s research areas include differential equations and dynamical systems; computational neuroscience; and mathematics pedagogy. In Fall 2020, Dr. Udeigwe served as Senior Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), Los Angeles, CA, where he was one of the core participants in the long-term program Mathematical Challenges and Opportunities for Autonomous Vehicles. Using machine learning and differential equations methods, Udeigwe explored the use of data-driven dynamical systems to model the perception and control of a self-driving vehicle.  

In 2020, Dr. Udeigwe was awarded a National Science Foundation Research Grant (~$29,000.00). In 2021, he was awarded a Department of Defense research grant of $371,000 from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory to support his work on Hebbian Learning. In this work, Dr. Udeigwe will use analytical and numerical methods to explore and model the dynamical interactions between synaptic plasticity and a set of accompanying biologically stabilizing mechanisms known as homeostatic plasticity.

As an academic, Dr.Udeigwe takes pride in devoting equal attention to both teaching and research, as well as being able to introduce his research material in his courses with the goal of continuously improving mathematics pedagogy and, even, birthing new courses. At Manhattan College, Dr. Udeigwe introduced and created new courses in computational neuroscience and applied dynamical systems that he has taught to both graduate and undergraduate students since Fall 2018. 

Outside of mathematics and science, Dr. Udeigwe is a singer-songwriter and leads the Lorens Chuno group, whose music can be heard here. Among many themes, his songwriting tackles intersectionality issues faced by the contemporary African. He also explores the different ways in which mathematics and jazz can be interfaced. 

Selected Publications

L.C. Udeigwe. “Using Phase Portraits to Analyze Relationship Dynamics.” SIMIODE, (2019). https://www.simiode.org/resources/6263

L.C. Udeigwe. "An analysis of the cluster-detecting property of the BCM neuron." International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, 2019 under review. [PDF HERE]

L.C. Udeigwe, P.W. Munro, G. Bard Ermentrout. "Emergent Dynamical Properties of the BCM Learning Rule." Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience.  Vol 7:2, (2017), DOI: 10.1186/s13408-017-0044-6

L.C. Udeigwe and G.B. Ermentrout. "Waves and patterns on regular graphs." SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems Vol. 14(2), 1102-1129, 2015.

At MIT

Lawrence Udeigwe uses elegant math to understand complex systems of the brain, MIT News, 22 March 2022

Two Theoretical Spaces: Neuroscience & DEIJ with MLK Scholar Lawrence Udeigwe, MLK Scholar Luncheon, 17 March 2022