Alexander Farrugia is a mathematics senior lecturer at the Ġ.F. Abela University of Malta Junior College (JC) and a part-time lecturer at the University of Malta. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2016, studying at the University of Malta under the supervision of Prof. Irene Sciriha, after successfully defending his thesis titled ‘On the Spectra and Walks of Molecular and Controllable Graphs’. His area of expertise includes algebraic and spectral graph theory, with applications in molecular chemistry and control theory. He is on the Editorial Board of the Discrete Mathematics Letters and the Symposia Melitensia journals. Locally, he is on the Sounds of Science team that publishes a weekly science page on the Sunday Times of Malta newspaper. At his place of work, he is also a member of the University of Malta Junior College Multi-Disciplinary Conference Scientific Committee and the Science in the City Coordination team. Moreover, he is a member of the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS).
Prior to working at JC, he had a ten-year stint at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) from 2003 to 2013. During this time, he successfully graduated from the MCAST Postgraduate Certificate in Vocational Education and Training (PGC in VET) in 2011. His thesis was ‘Mathematics and Proof: Their Relevance to MCAST Engineering Students’. At MCAST, he was also subject coordinator from 2010 to 2012.
Alexander had a long spell as paper reviser and paper marker for the Intermediate Pure Mathematics and for the Applied Mathematics examinations, from 2001 to 2018. Moreover, he was casual lecturer at the University of Malta, teaching the MAT1801 unit (Mathematics for Engineers 1) from 2011 to 2014, the MAT2113 unit (Rings) in the second semester of the 2016-2017 academic year and the MAT3115 unit (Groups) in the first semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. He is currently a casual lecturer for the MAT2112 unit (Linear Algebra 1) and the MAT3114 unit (Linear Algebra 2).
In his student days, Alexander graduated with a Master of Science in Mathematics with Distinction (2003) with the thesis ‘On Main Eigenvalues and Walks of Graphs’. His undergraduate course was a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science (1997-2001), from which he graduated with First Class Honours. During this time, he was also enlisted in the Dean’s List three times (in 1998, 1999 and 2000).
In his free time, he writes about mathematics on Quora, a website where people share their knowledge with the world. He was recognized as a Top Writer on Quora in 2017 and 2018, with his writings garnering more than 28 million views. He also served as mathematics subject coordinator from 2019 to 2021 at his current place of work. His hobbies include chess, music, Formula One and cooking.
Alexander Farrugia 