astronomy

Michael Dorff

Michael Dorff is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Michael Dorff rather than just read about it. In short: Michael John Dorff (often referred to as Coach Dorff) is a mathematician at Brigham Young University known for his work in undergraduate research, promoting careers in math, popularizing mathematics, and harmonic mappings. Life and career Michael Dorff received his BA in Mathematics Education from Brigham Young University in 1986.

Key takeaways

Michael Dorff belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael Dorff to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael Dorff from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael John Dorff (often referred to as Coach Dorff) is a mathematician at Brigham Young University known for his work in undergraduate research, promoting careers in math, popularizing mathematics, and harmonic mappings.

Life and career Michael Dorff received his BA in Mathematics Education from Brigham Young University in 1986. He received his MS from University of New Hampshire in 1992 followed by a Ph.D. in Mathematics from University of Kentucky in 1997. He taught at University of Missouri-Rolla as an assistant professor in the Department of Math and Statistics from 1997-2000 when he was hired by Brigham Young University as an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics. Dorff became a full professor at BYU in 2011. He was the Chair of the Department of Mathematics at BYU from 2015–2019 and 2025-2028. He is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), a CUR Fellow (Council on Undergraduate Research), and a Fulbright Scholar. He was awarded with the MAA Gung and Hu Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics (2024), BYU University Professor (2023), BYU Lawrence K. Egbert Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship (2015), MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics (2010), and BYU Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award (2010). His mathematics research area is geometric function theory, and he has expertise in preparing students for careers in BIG (business, industry, and government) and in undergraduate research.

Awards and honors 2025–2027, Member of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board for the National Academies of Science 2021–2024, Executive Director of Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math) 2020, Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Fellows Award. 2019–2020, President of the Mathematical Association of America. 2015, The "Mathematics Programs that Make a Difference" from the AMS for CURM. 2013–2024 Co-founder and co-director of PIC Math (Preparation for Industrial Careers in the Mathematical Sciences) 2012–2015, The Lawrence K. Egbert Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship at Brigham Young University. 2012, Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. 2010, The Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award at Brigham Young University. 2010, The Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. 2007–2017, Founder and director of the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM)

Selected publications Books:

M. Dorff, A. Henrich, and L. Pudwell. A Mathematician's Practical Guide to Mentoring Undergraduate Research. MAA Press: An Imprint of the American Mathematical Society, 2019. M. Brilleslyper, M. Dorff, J. McDougall, J. Rolf, L. Schaubroeck, R. Stankewitz, and K. Stephenson. Explorations in Complex Analysis. Math. Assoc. of America. Washington, DC, 2012. Research Papers:

M. Brilleslyper, J. Brooks, M. Dorff, R. Howell and L. Schaubroeck. “Zeros of a one-parameter family of harmonic trinomials,” accepted for publication in Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 2020. Z. Boyd*, M. Dorff, M. Nowak, M. Romney, and M. Woloszkiewicz. “Univalency of convolutions of harmonic mappings,” Appl. Math. Comput. 234 (2014), 326–332. M. Dorff, M. Nowak, and M. Wołoszkiewicz. “Convolutions of harmonic convex mappings.” Complex Var. Elliptic Equ. 57 (2012), no. 5, 489–503. M. Dorff and M. Nowak. “Landau's Theorem for planar harmonic mappings.” Comput. Methods Funct. Theory 4 (2004), no. 1, 151–158. M. Dorff. “Convolutions of planar harmonic convex mappings.” Complex Var. Theory Appl. 45 (2001), 263–271.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Dorff

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Dorff claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael Dorff before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael Dorff ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael Dorff

In research: Michael Dorff appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael Dorff in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael Dorff is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century American mathematicians, 21st-century American mathematicians, Brigham Young University faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Dorff outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Michael Dorff in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael Dorff means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael Dorff out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Dorff in simple terms?

Why does Michael Dorff matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael Dorff?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael Dorff.