Narad Rampersad

BSc, MMath, PhD

Dr. Narad Rampersad is a knowledgeable and gifted researcher with an exceptional publication record who has garnered international recognition for the quality of his work. He is considered to be one of the best of his generation.  

His expertise spans a variety of areas in discrete mathematics, including formal languages, automata theory, descriptional complexity, pattern avoidance, and number theory — but is internationally renowned for his research in combinatorics on words (the study of patterns in sequences over a finite set of symbols) .

Rampersad is known for his clever and intricate solutions to hard problems that others have been unable to solve. His postdoctoral fellowship at UWinnipeg with Dr. James Currie (mathematics and statistics) jointly resolved the last remaining open cases of a long standing conjecture in combinatorics on words known as Dejean’s Conjecture. The final step to this solution represents one of the most important results in combinatorics on words in the last 25 years.

As a young researcher, he has already has made an impressive mark in his field with 16 conference publications, 56 journal publications, and a chapter for a Cambridge University Press publication.

Rampersad’s initial Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant received $85,000 in funding over five years — a significant figure for a first-time applicant in mathematics. He also has received the University of Winnipeg Award of Merit for each of the years from 2011-2014.

Rampersad has supervised seven undergraduate research projects and co-supervised two postdoctoral researchers. Each project generated papers published in or submitted to refereed journals, thus demonstrating Rampersad’s dedication to the junior researchers under his expert mentorship.

He is described as an excellent colleague who is very popular with students. For his deep commitment to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics through his stellar research career, teaching, and administrative service, The University of Winnipeg is proud to present Dr. Narad Rampersad with the Erica and Arnold Rogers Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship.