Rate My Professor Lingju Kong

Lingju Kong is a UC Foundation Professor of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she joined the Department of Mathematics as an Assistant Professor in August 2005, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010, and to Full Professor in 2014. She currently serves as Graduate Program Coordinator since 2020 and Concentration Coordinator for Computational and Applied Mathematics since 2018. Kong earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Northern Illinois University in 2005, with a dissertation titled 'Nonlinear boundary value problems of ordinary differential equations.' Her academic career is marked by significant contributions to differential equations research, including ordinary and partial differential equations, difference equations, and mathematical biology. She has co-authored influential books such as 'Multiple Solutions of Boundary Value Problems: A Variational Approach' with J.R. Graef (World Scientific, 2016) and 'Ordinary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, Volumes I and II' with J.R. Graef, J. Henderson, and S. Liu (World Scientific, 2018).

Kong's research focuses on the existence, multiplicity, uniqueness, and dependence on parameters of solutions to various boundary value problems, including fractional q-derivatives, periodic, singular, and integral boundary conditions. Notable publications include 'Positive solutions for a class of higher order boundary value problems with fractional q-derivatives' (Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2012; 152 citations), 'Existence, multiplicity, and dependence on a parameter for a periodic boundary value problem' (Journal of Differential Equations, 2008; 133 citations), 'A Variational Approach to a Kirchhoff-type Problem Involving Two Parameters' (Results in Mathematics, 2013; 108 citations), and 'Existence and uniqueness of solutions for a fractional boundary value problem on a graph' (Fractional Calculus and Applied Analysis, 2014; 94 citations). With over 3,273 citations on Google Scholar, her work has had substantial impact in the field. She has received the UTC College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement Award (2020), Outstanding Research Award (2011), Elsevier Certificate for one of the 20 most cited articles in the Journal of Differential Equations (2007-2011), and multiple UC Foundation grants. Kong has served as Principal Investigator on a CEACSE grant for modeling information diffusion in online social networks ($96,380, 2018-2019) and Co-Principal Investigator on an NSF REU grant ($296,543, 2013-2016). She has delivered invited talks at conferences and serves on editorial boards.