Skip to main content

Mathematical Biologist Lloyd Named Drexel Professor

Alun Lloyd

The College of Sciences has named Alun Lloyd of the Department of Mathematics as a Drexel Professor. The professorship was made possible by a gift from Drexel Enterprises, which is now called Drexel Heritage Furniture.

Lloyd is a mathematical biologist who joined the NC State faculty in 2003. He develops mathematical models that describe the spread of infections through populations. Much of his work focuses on the dengue virus that is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that transmits the Zika virus. His research can be used to provide predictions — much like a weather forecast — of how the number of disease cases will grow or fall over time.

“Rewarding the efforts of outstanding faculty is one of the most important things we do,” said Bill Ditto, dean of the College of Sciences. “Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we can recognize talented professors like Alun Lloyd for their great work.”

Lloyd is a leader, co-leader or key contributor on more than $7.5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications and delivered more than 60 invited research and teaching presentations since 2004.

Lloyd is also the director of NC State’s Biomathematics Graduate Program. His awards and honors include being elected to a lectureship at St. Hilda’s College at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and being awarded a Medical Research Council Non-Clinical Fellowship, also at Oxford.

The Drexel Professorship was created in 1968 by a corporate gift from Drexel Enterprises. The company is now part of Drexel Heritage Furniture, headquartered in High Point, NC. Lloyd is one of three Drexel Professors in the college.