January 31, 2000 New Faculty Neil Balmforth Associate Professor of Engineering (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) Neil Balmforth's research interests are in applied mathematics, and he will be a member of the engineering school's planned Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Balmforth studies mathematical problems in astrophysics and geophysical fluid mechanics, as well as more abstract issues in dynamical systems and pattern theory. He received his B.S. degree in mathematical physics with astrophysics from King's College, University of London, and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Before joining the UCSC faculty, Balmforth was a lecturer at the University of Nottingham and a visiting professor at UC San Diego and Instituto di Cosmogeofisica, Turin, Italy. He has directed the geophysical fluid dynamics summer school at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the past two years. Stephen Thorsett Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Stephen Thorsett studies radio pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, and related astrophysical systems. Thorsett studies radio pulsars both as fascinating astrophysical objects in their own right and as tools for studying fundamental physics. He is also involved in several projects to conduct observations of gamma-ray bursts. Thorsett's research makes use of the major national radio astronomy facilities, a variety of satellite-based instruments, the Hubble Space Telescope, and ground-based optical telescopes. Thorsett received his B.A. degree in mathematics from Carleton College and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Princeton University. Before joining the UCSC faculty, he was an assistant professor of physics at Princeton University.