Joel Epps
Staff Writer
Hailing from the picturesque peaks of West Virginia, Dr. Mark Hughes is the newest addition to Florida Southern’s mathematics department.
At the start of his academic journey, Hughes attended Concord University, a hidden gem nestled within the Appalachian mountains, where he pursued his Bachelor’s degree. After exploring various disciplines including physics, biology, and geology, Hughes ultimately settled on mathematics.
His educational journey continued at Marshall University, where he successfully obtained his master’s degree. Initially, Hughes embarked on his Ph.D. journey in West Virginia, focusing on the symmetrical transformations and mathematical properties of graphs.
A significant turn of events occurred when his advisor relocated to Florida International University in Miami. In a bid to continue his doctoral pursuits, Hughes followed suit and completed his Ph.D. at FIU.
At FIU, Hughes earned an Academic Achievement Award from the Academy for International Disaster Preparedness for being the graduate student with the highest G.P.A in his graduate program in 2016.
Following his Ph.D., he decided to establish roots in sunny Lakeland, Fla., becoming FSC’s newest mathematics department professor.
Hughes was born in Polk County before moving to West Virginia at a young age. His formative years were marked by a strong desire to learn, particularly in the field of chemistry, as he reminisced, “I had a lot of science-y toys and chemistry sets.”
However, upon entering Concord University, he faced a dilemma regarding his academic path.
“I initially wanted to study physics, but they didn’t offer a major in that field,” Hughes said. “So, I began with biology, delving into animal sciences, before realizing it wasn’t my true calling.”
His brief time in geology was curtailed when he recognized that the career prospects in the field did not align with his passions.
“You could either work on environmental cleanup or contribute to the oil and gas industry, which essentially created those environmental challenges,” he said.
Ultimately, he transitioned to mathematics and completed his degree in the discipline.
After a few years in Florida, Hughes misses West Virginia. He fondly remembered the state’s natural beauty and the thrill of whitewater rafting. At Concord, he recounted scaling hidden waterfalls near the school and finding solace in those serene moments.
The transition from West Virginia to Miami proved to be quite a culture shock. He noted the notorious traffic jams of Miami and the stark difference in population density in comparison to West Virginia. He expressed relief in his relocation to Lakeland, describing it as “much more comforting” and appreciating its beauty.
At FIU, he focused on complex networks and their diverse applications. These networks have been extensively explored in various contexts, including social media, customer behaviors, human cells and metabolic processes. The representation of objects as graphs in space provides a means to analyze idealized versions of real-world properties, with implications for chemical functionality and neural connectomes in an animal’s central nervous systems.
Such research employs mathematical tools to study these graphs and uncover crucial connections within them to comprehend how various aspects of science and life are interconnected. Currently, his research team has begun working on a follow-up paper they hope to publish.
Armed with a wealth of knowledge, a passion for teaching and an unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of research, Hughes wouldn’t be where he is today without the challenges he’s faced.
“It’s okay not to know what you want to do. It’s perfectly fine,” Hughes said. Just keep moving forward, and eventually, you’ll stumble upon something that you enjoy.”
