Matthew Kvalheim

Assistant Professor of Mathematics

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Short bio:

Matthew D. Kvalheim is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His research draws on differential topology and other geometric-topological methods to study capabilities and limitations of nonlinear systems. In particular, he seeks to determine when dynamical systems can be stabilized using feedback control, represented by linear or lower-dimensional models, or otherwise simplified. Kvalheim received the 2026 Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the 2026 Early-Career Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at UMBC. He has served as an Associate Editor of Mathematics of Control, Signals, and Systems since 2023. Before UMBC, Kvalheim held postdoctoral appointments in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan and the GRASP Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his graduate degrees from the University of Michigan.

Email: lastname[at]umbc[dot]edu

Curriculum vitae: by request

Research:

I am grateful to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for supporting my work. For more information, please see my research page.

Some recent presentation materials:

• Video and slides from a talk “On Professor Smale’s legacy for asymptotic stability theory” at Smale@95: A Conference in Honor of Steve Smale in Berkeley, California.
• Slides “On the universality of linear dynamics”.