Umut is an Associate Teaching Professor at Florida International University.
He received his Ph.D. in 2014 from Case Western Reserve University. His research interests are convex geometric analysis, information theory, and analysis. His Ph.D. thesis focused on information-theoretic inequalities for log concave functions and their relations with inequalities involving convex bodies from convex geometry. His research papers have been published in the leading journals of Mathematics.Umut is also an innovative and dedicated teacher. He has contributed to transforming the way lower-level math courses are taught and to improving student retention and success by using active learning techniques, emphasizing critical thinking, and using technology. He was also involved in redesigning many math courses to improve the teaching and learning experience at FIU. He served as Hybrid Faculty Fellow in 2021-2022 and helped train faculty from various disciplines to design evidence-based hybrid classes.
He is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Gateway Teaching (2023 -comes with FIU Medal), the Top Scholars Award (FIU-2022) and the Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Incentives (RETI) Award (FIU-2022). He has also received the College of Arts, Sciences and Education-Teaching Awards in 2019 and 2021.
He has been serving as a senator at the Faculty Senate since Fall 2021.
He has also been serving as a senator at the United Faculty of Florida (UFF-FIU) since Fall 2020.
Research Areas
His research interest is convex geometric analysis. He works on information-theoretic inequalities for functions (mainly log-concave) and their relations with inequalities involving convex bodies from convex geometry.
Selected Publications
- Pinsker inequalities and related Monge-Ampere equations for log concave functions. ArXiv: 2005.07055 Indiana University Mathematics Journal, 71, No. 6 (2022) Jointly with A. Kolesnikov and E. M. Werner.
- Stability results for some geometric inequalities and their functional versions Book Chapter: Convexity and Concentration Vol. 161 of IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications p: 541-564, Springer 2017 Jointly with E. Werner
- Affine isoperimetric inequalities in the functional Orlicz-Brunn-Minkowski theory Advances in Applied Mathematics, Vol. 81, pages: 78-114 (2016) Jointly with D. Ye
- Functional version of L_p-affine surface area and entropy inequalities International Mathematics Research Notices, Vol. 2016, pages: 1223-1250 (2016) Jointly with M. Fradelizi, O. Guedon, J. Lehec, C. Schuett and E. Werner
- Mixed f-divergence and inequalities for log concave functions Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, Vol. 110, pages: 271-290 (2015) Jointly with E. Werner
- Divergence for s-concave and log concave functions Advances in Mathematics, Vol. 257, pages: 219-247 (2014) Jointly with E. Werner