Please join us in welcoming Jess Boling (he/him) to Schmid College of Science and Technology. Boling will serve as an Instructional Assistant Professor of Mathematics.

Jess Boling grew up in nearby Azusa, CA, and considered a career in systems engineering before discovering that mathematics was way more fun. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Irvine in 2016 where his specialization was in differential geometry. Jess has published research on soliton and locally homogeneous solutions to geometric flows including pluriclosed flow and harmonic map heat flow.Jess plays way too many video games and has a massive board game collection. When not playing games or doing math he likes to hike and go camping. As of January 2023, he is a full-time dad.

Q&A with Jess Boling, Instructional Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Q: What role were you in before this one? 

A: For the past year most of my time was spent in the role of full-time dad to my 18-month-old son Jack. I’ve been a part-time instructor at Chapman since 2021 and before that I taught courses at places like Irvine Valley College, Cypress College, and UC Irvine.

Q: What is your current area of research — and why are you passionate about it? 

A: My research has been in differential geometry, mostly in the context of geometric analysis of non-Kähler complex manifolds. I find differential geometry to be a rewarding subject because it is where geometric intuition motivates solutions to some very challenging problems in analysis and partial differential equations.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a scientist? 

A: I started college as an electrical engineering and computer science major before switching to math. So in an alternate reality I am making way more money as an embedded systems engineer. But I guess engineers are scientists too so that doesn’t answer the question. I actually enjoy home improvement and DIY stuff, so I’ll say general contractor.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve received in your science career?

A: My best practical career advice is to network. Find people working in the field you want to work in and spend time with them. Impress them with what you can do. Try to do what they do, but better.