{ "145384-21897218": { "datetime_modified":"20260217T112042", "datetime_start":"20260218T160000", "datetime_end":"20260218T170000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-02-18", "date_end":"2026-02-18", "time_start":"16:00:00", "time_end":"17:00:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"Probability\/Analysis Circle: Functional calculus calculus", "occurrence_title":"", "combined_title":"Probability\/Analysis Circle: Functional calculus calculus: Evangelos \"Vaki\" Nikitopoulos", "event_subtitle":"Evangelos \"Vaki\" Nikitopoulos", "event_type":"Workshop \/ Seminar", "event_type_id":"21", "description":"If A is an n x n matrix, you might have seen the matrix e^A in a linear algebra or differential equations class. You might not, however, have seen a matrix like |A|^e. What does this even mean? One excellent answer involves a construction known as functional calculus, which appears in numerous areas of mathematics and physics and enables the applications of scalar functions to matrices. In this talk, I plan to tell you a little bit about functional calculus and then to explore the \"calculus of functional calculus,\" i.e., how the matrix f(A) depends on A when f is a scalar function. Time permitting, I'll say a few words about the \"infinite-dimensional case\" in which A is an operator on a Hilbert space. I shall assume the audience is familiar with linear algebra, multivariable (differential) calculus, and a bit of real analysis.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"145384-21897218@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/145384", "building_id":"1000166", "building_name":"East Hall", "campus_maps_id":"53", "room":"4088", "location_name":"East Hall", "has_livestream":0, "cost":"", "tags":["Mathematics"], "website":"", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Probability and Analysis Seminar - Department of Mathematics", "group_id":"5203", "website":"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/probsemumich\/future-talks" }, { "group_name":"Department of Mathematics", "group_id":"3791", "website":"" } ], "image_url":"", "styled_images":{ "event_thumb":"", "event_large":"", "event_large_2x":"", "event_large_lightbox":"", "group_thumb":"", "group_thumb_square":"", "group_large":"", "group_large_lightbox":"", "event_large_crop":"", "event_list":"", "event_list_2x":"", "event_grid":"", "event_grid_2x":"", "event_feature_large":"", "event_feature_thumb":"" }, "occurrence_count":1, "first_occurrence":21897218 } , "143761-21893982": { "datetime_modified":"20260218T142125", "datetime_start":"20260218T160000", "datetime_end":"20260218T173000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-02-18", "date_end":"2026-02-18", "time_start":"16:00:00", "time_end":"17:30:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"Reform as Process: Implementing Change in Public Bureaucracies Book Launch: Professor Martin J. Williams", "occurrence_title":"Reform as Proocess: Implementing Change in Public Bureaucracies Book Launch: Professor Martin J. Williams", "combined_title":"Reform as Process: Implementing Change in Public Bureaucracies Book Launch: Professor Martin J. Williams: Reform as Proocess: Implementing Change in Public Bureaucracies Book Launch: Professor Martin J. Williams", "event_subtitle":"", "event_type":"Workshop \/ Seminar", "event_type_id":"21", "description":"Join us for the launch of Martin J. Williams's Reform as Process, an in-depth study of civil service reform scross six African countries.\u00a0\nBuilding an effective civil service is crucial for public service delivery and good governance, but reforming bureaucratic institutions is notoriously difficult. This book takes a fresh perspective on this challenge by documenting and analyzing the implementation of more than one hundred reforms initiated by six African countries over the last thirty years.\nMartin J. Williams shows that these efforts largely fell short of their goals because they typically approached organizational change as a matter of changing formal structures and processes through one-off projects. Some did yield positive changes, however, when they were able to create opportunities for civil servants to discuss performance and how to improve it. Drawing on this evidence, Williams develops a new theory of how systemic reforms can lead to meaningful change\u2014not by trying to force it through top-down interventions but by catalyzing an ongoing and decentralized process of continuous improvement.\nReform as Process makes theoretical and empirical contributions to research on organizational performance, civil service reform, and public service delivery, and it shares practical insights and strategies to help reformers around the world achieve meaningful change in their organizations.About the AuthorMartin J. Williams is associate professor of organizational studies and (by courtesy) political science and public policy at the University of Michigan, as well as associate faculty at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"143761-21893982@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/143761", "building_id":"", "building_name":"", "campus_maps_id":"", "room":"", "location_name":"Weiser Hall 500 Church Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 10th Floor", "has_livestream":0, "cost":"", "tags":["Sessions"], "website":"https:\/\/sessions.studentlife.umich.edu\/p\/track\/16174", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Sessions @ Michigan", "group_id":"4791", "website":"https:\/\/sessions.studentlife.umich.edu\/" } ], "image_url":"", "styled_images":{ "event_thumb":"", "event_large":"", "event_large_2x":"", "event_large_lightbox":"", "group_thumb":"", "group_thumb_square":"", "group_large":"", "group_large_lightbox":"", "event_large_crop":"", "event_list":"", "event_list_2x":"", "event_grid":"", "event_grid_2x":"", "event_feature_large":"", "event_feature_thumb":"" }, "occurrence_count":1, "first_occurrence":21893982 } }