Carl Simon
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Emeritus faculty

Carl P. Simon

Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Mathematics, and Complex Systems
(734) 763-3074 [email protected]

Carl P. Simon is professor emeritus of mathematics, economics, complex systems, and public policy. He was the founding director of the U-M Center for the Study of Complex Systems and a former director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at the Ford School. His research centers on the theory and application of dynamical systems: from economic systems in search of equilibrium, to political systems in search of optimal policies, ecosystems responding to human interactions, and especially to the dynamics of the spread of contagious diseases. His current research centers on the spread of COVID-19, the spread of crime, the initiation of teenage smoking, and the life histories of Great Lakes salmon. He was named the LSA Distinguished Senior Lecturer for 2007 and received the U-M Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 2012. He taught calculus at the Ford School for nearly forty years, including "algebraic aerobics." He received his PhD in mathematics from Northwestern University in 1970.

Educational background

  • PhD in mathematics, Northwestern University (1970)

Current research

Simon's current research centers on the spread of COVID-19, the spread of crime, the initiation of teenage smoking, and the life histories of Great Lakes salmon.

Recent publications

  • "The Importance of Peer Imitation on Smoking Initiation Over Time: A Dynamical Systems Approach" (with David Mendez). Health Care Management Science (2021).
  • "Modeling the population eects of escape mutations in SARS-CoV-2 to guide vaccination strategies." (with J. Koopman, W. Getz, and R. Salter). Epidemics 36 (2021). medRxiv: https://medrxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2021.01.19.21250114v1
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