Honoring efforts to increase numbers of minorities and women in science and mathematics, the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point has named Cornell University mathematician Carlos Castillo-Chavez as one of three Distinguished Alumni for 1999.

Castillo-Chavez is a professor of biomathematics and director of the Cornell Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute. He was cited by the University of Wisconsin, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1976, for fostering minority student involvement in research at Cornell and in Mexico, where he was a visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in 1998-99.

Also receiving Distinguished Alumni Awards in May 15-16 ceremonies were Wisconsin philanthropist John Noel, whose scholarship program enables minority high school students from that state to attend the Stevens Point branch of the university, and National Basketball Association two-time All-Star Terry Porter, whose Milwaukee Scholars Fund assists young people from low-income backgrounds.

At Cornell, Castillo-Chavez established the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute to provide research opportunities for undergraduate students from other colleges. The institute is funded by the National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, Sloan Foundation and Cornell University. Each year an average of eight institute participants go on to graduate school, most with fellowships to further their education in mathematics and science fields.

While in Mexico, Castillo-Chavez conducted a summer program in mathematical biology for Mexican undergraduates with fellowships from the Centro Internacional de Sciencias. He also volunteered to teach a biomathematics course in Tlaxcala, that nation's poorest state, for high school teachers, professors and 25 undergraduate students.

One phase of Castillo-Chavez' research work -- into the epidemiology of tuberculosis -- is conducted in Argentina, where he holds the honorary title of Plenary Professor at the Universidad de Belgrano, the highest honor conferred by that institution. Other research interests for the biomathematician include the epidemiology of infectious diseases, such as AIDS, Chagas and influenza; the social dynamics of disease; and the role of superinfection in disease coexistence and evolution.

Previous honors to Castillo-Chavez include the Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award from President Bush and the Presidential Mentoring Award from President Clinton for his work with minorities and women in the sciences. He earned an M.S. in mathematics (1979) at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in mathematics (1984) at the University of Winconsin-Madison, and he taught at the University of Tulsa before joining the Cornell faculty in 1985.