The mathematics department at Iowa State is creating ties with South American universities through new exchange agreements.

New exchange agreements were developed this year to make it easier for mathematics graduate students from two South American universities to attend Iowa State. There is also potential for faculty exchanges between the ISU department of mathematics and universities in Peru and Bolivia.

A memorandum of understanding was signed recently between Iowa State and the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin in Arequipa, Peru, which established a formal partnership in math.

The first goal of the exchange is to allow some of the graduate students in Peru to come to Iowa State to study mathematics.

Justin Peters, professor of mathematics, said in a news release the exchange could also lead to ISU faculty traveling to Peru for scholarly work and Peruvian faculty visiting Iowa State.

“It’s a general agreement that could also lead to exchanges in other scientific disciplines,” Peters said.

Peters developed the agreement after traveling to the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin every year since his first visit in 2007 to present a series of lectures for students and faculty.

Earlier this year he was named an honorary professor at the universidad in recognition of his contributions to the mathematics disciplines there.

Another agreement was finalized with the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz in the capital of Bolivia earlier in 2010.

Wolfgang Kliemann, professor of mathematics, created the partnership with UMSA after working with two Bolivian math students who earned their doctorates in 2009 in Chile, with Kliemann as co-major professor.

“We expect that one of the first consequences of these contacts will be two [doctorate] students from UMSA studying at [Iowa State], one in applied mathematics and one in statistics,” Kliemann said.