Donald French

Donald French is a Full Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, holding this position since 1999. Additionally, he has been a Contractor/Consultant at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base since 2010. He earned a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University (1985), an MS in Applied Mathematics from Cornell (1983), and a BA in Mathematics and Physics from the State University of New York at Oswego (1980).

His research focuses on interdisciplinary mathematical modeling, particularly in Cellular Physiology and Neuroscience. Key areas include inverse problems in olfactory cilia dynamics, neuronal networks, and biofilms. He has also contributed extensively to numerical analysis, specializing in error analysis for finite element methods, meshfree techniques, and discontinuous Galerkin methods.

• Research Highlights:
• Development of energy-preserving numerical schemes for time-dependent PDEs in phase transitions and viscoelasticity.
• Analysis of meshfree and discontinuous Galerkin methods for diffusion problems.
• Collaboration with Steven Kleene on olfactory cilia modeling since 2001.

His work spans computational neuroscience, fluid dynamics, and aerospace engineering, with recent advancements in trajectory planning for unmanned vehicles using PDE-based models. French has secured over $600,000 in NSF grants for projects like ion channel distribution modeling (2005–2009) and mathematical physiology career development (2002–2004).

French has held leadership roles, including Graduate Program Director at UC (2015–2017 and 1999–2001), and served on Taft Research and departmental committees. His teaching includes advanced courses in numerical analysis, PDEs, and mathematical biology, which he helped pioneer at UC.