A History of the Mathematics Department at San Jose State
(obtained from old catalogs and
newsletters)
The early years
Minn’s Evening Normal School
opened in San Francisco
in 1857. In 1871 it moved to San Jose and became the San Jose State
Normal School. In 1921 the school was renamed the San Jose
State Teacher’s College. Herman F.
Minssen (1916-1944) AM Stanford was hired as a mathematics professor at San Jose State in 1916. When a Mathematics Department was formed
Minssen became the acting head in 1924 and remained as the head of the Math
Department until 1943. Minssen was also
the acting president of San Jose
State for two years from
1925-1927 and he also served as Vice President for several years after
that. Thomas W. MacQuarrie serves as the
president of SJSU from 1927-1952. In
the 1920’s many bachelor’s degrees were implemented at San Jose State
including an A.B. Mathematics. Other
notable mathematics professors around this time were Eleanor V. Gratz
(1915-1944) MA Stanford who in addition to teaching mathematics also served as
an assistant to the dean of women for many years, and Heath French Harrison
(1926-1948), MA University of Washington.
From 1937-1946, the Mathematics Department included Aeronautics and
Engineering, until a separate Engineering Department was formed in 1947. Other Professors serving in the Mathematics
Department at this time include Professor Elmo Arnold Robinson (1928-1935),
Professor Maxwell Alfred Heaslet (1935-1945) PhD Stanford and Professor Frank
Petersen (1934-1944) MA University of Southern California.
1940-1949
From 1943-57 Dr. Howard “Doc” Myers (1940-1975) Ph.D.
Stanford serves as the Head of the Math Dept., after Professor Minssen steps
down in 1943. During this time the Math
Dept. has about 5-10 faculty members.
Faculty members joining the Math Dept. during this decade include
professors (with their approximate tenures at San Jose State) Richard H. C.
Dieckmann (1946-1972) Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Marion Taylor Bird (1947-1971)
Analysis/Statistics Ph.D. Illinois, Herman Jamison (1946-1974) Ph.D.
Pittsburgh, Anthony Lovaglia (1945-1949,1951-1986) Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Carl Olds
(1945-1976) Ph.D. Stanford, Lincoln Daniels (1946-1957), and Patricia O’Donnell
(1948-78) MA Stanford. In about 1947 the
department starts offering graduate work leading to a secondary teaching
credential and an MS in mathematics.
Franklyn B. Fuller was awarded a Masters degree in Math from SJSU in
1947, so he is certainly one of the first to earn a master’s degree in
mathematics from SJSU. He eventually
returned to become a professor and the department chair in the SJSU Mathematics
Department after many years working at NASA Ames. Most of the masters’ theses
in Mathematics are stored in the Math Department “Les Lange” common room. Unfortunately Professor Fuller’s thesis is
not one of the theses that we have, however we do have one Masters’ thesis from
1950 which was written by Lois Bohnett Zobrist.
At least two more masters theses were written
in 1951 by Claire Eugene Christensen and William T. Evans. These three theses are numbered 12, 14, and
15 but we don’t know for sure if they really are the 12th, 14th,
and 15th masters’ theses written in the Math Dept. By the end of the decade there are about
6,000 students attending San Jose
State.
1950-59
Starting in 1951 the departments at San Jose State
are formed into divisions, with the mathematics department being placed in the
division of engineering and mathematics from 1951-1959. In 1957, the Math Department starts offering
an MS degree in Applied Math. In that
same year the A.B. Math degree becomes the B.A. Math degree. Dr. Myers continues as the Head of the Math
Dept. until 1957. In 1958 the dean acts
as the Math Dept. head for one year until an outside search for a new head is
completed. From 1959-1961 Professor
Edison Greer is the Head of the Math Dept.
During this decade the Math Dept. faculty grows rapidly in size from
about 10 to roughly 30 professors.
During the first part of this decade the Math Dept. resides in the School of Sciences and Occupations. Faculty members joining the Math Dept during
this decade include professors Rodney Anderson (1958-80)
Ed.D. Indiana, Leonard Bristow (1957-1969) Ph.D. Illinois, Kenneth
Fowler (1957-80) Ph.D. Michigan, Verner Hoggatt (1953-1980) Number Theory Ph.D.
Oregon State, Max Kramer (1957-1977) Ph.D. Columbia, Charles "Mac"
Larsen (1954-1989) Ph.D. Stanford, John Marks (1952-1979) Mathematics Education
Ed.D. Stanford, Richard Post (1957-1984) Statistics Ph.D. Columbia, Gerald
Preston (1955-88) Ph.D. Minnesota, James Smart (1957-1993) Geometry/Math
Education Ph.D. George Peabody College (Vanderbilt), Dmitri Thoro (1958-1994)
Number Theory Ph.D. University of Florida, Robert Wrede (1955-1994) Applied
Math Ph.D. Indiana, C. Kenneth Bradshaw (1958-1995) Math Education Ed.D. UC
Berkeley, Britt Schweitzer (1959-1987) MS Northwestern, Edison Greer
(1959-1977) Ph.D. Kansas,
and Leonard Feldman (1958-1993) Math Education Ed.D. UC Berkeley. In 1955-56
the Math Dept. offers possibly the first computer programming course in the CSU
system when it offers a machine language course taught by an engineer from
IBM. During this decade the number of
students attending San Jose
State has more than
doubled to about 14,000 students. John
T. Wahlquist serves as the president of SJSU from 1952-1964.
1960-1969
From 1960-1967 the Mathematics Department gets moved to the
Division of Sciences and Occupations, which from 1963-1967 becomes the Division
of Sciences and Applied Arts. In 1967
the Mathematics Department joins the School
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics,
which becomes the School of Science in 1972, and the College of Science in 1986. After Dr. Greer steps down in 1961, Dr.
Lester H. Lange takes over as the Math Dept. Head. The department and the university are both
moving from an autocracy toward a system of shared governance. Dr. Lange starts as the head of the math
department appointed by president Wahlquist (without consulting the faculty of
course) but eventually becomes a dept. chair elected by the math dept. faculty
to a 4-year term. This system of
governance is still being used in the present-day math department. Les Lange is the head/chair of the Math Dept.
from 1961-1970. At about this time the
Math Dept. undergoes the transition from a department strictly focused on
teacher training to one that offers a more varied curriculum matching the
research interests of its faculty as well as the needs of its students. Gradually the department starts offering more
classes in computer science, statistics, and applied math. From 1960-1980, the size of the Math Dept.
faculty remains fairly stable at about 30-40 professors. In the early 60’s Dr. Lange consults on the
design of MacQuarrie Hall and makes sure that it has class rooms that can seat
no more than 35 (no large lectures) and high quality slate blackboards (nothing
is too good for the Math Dept.) In 1966
the Math Dept. moves from Bldg O into a brand new MacQuarrie Hall. The Math Dept. shares MacQuarrie Hall with
ROTC and during the Vietnam War era there are frequent demonstrations outside
the building, some resulting in the spattering of animal blood on the glass
doors of MacQuarrie Hall. Faculty
members joining the Math Dept. during this decade include professors Lester
Lange Ph.D. Notre Dame (1960-1988), Johanna Brunings (1961-1974) Ph.D. Leiden,
Netherlands, Paul Byrd (1959-1989) Special Functions/Applied Math MS Chicago,
Franklyn Fuller (1964-1977) Ph.D. Stanford, Alfred Halteman (1964-1983) Math
Education/CS MA Oregon, Edgar Simons (1961-1994) Linear Programming MA
Michigan, Martin Billik (1961-2007) Numerical Analysis/Applied Math Ph.D. MIT,
James Dolby (1966-1985) Statistics/CS Ph.D. Stanford, Hugh Edgar (1963-2001)
Number Theory Ph.D. Colorado, Amiel Feinstein (1966-1986) Ph.D. MIT, Robert
Pruitt (1963-1987) Ph.D. Ohio State, William Sills (1966-1996) Functional
Analysis Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Marjorie Fitting (1968-1993) Math/CS Education
Ph.D. Michigan State, Frederick Stern (1968-2001) Probability/Statistics Ph.D. New York University, and Donald Weddington (1969-2008) Topology
Ph.D. University
of Miami. The first Math Field Day for high school
students is held in 1963. Professor
Thoro organizes the Discovery Quest problem-solving competition during the Math
Field Day and continues to do so almost every year for the next 40+ years. By the end of this decade the number of
students attending San Jose
State increases to about
24,000. Robert D. Clark serves as the
president of San Jose
State from
1964-1969. Hobert W. Burns serves as an
interim president at San Jose
State from
1969-1970.
1970-79
In 1970 Dr. Lange steps down as the Math department chair
and starts his 18-year tenure as dean of the College of Science. Marilyn Ruch joins the Math Dept. office
staff in 1970 and serves for more than 20 years. From 1970-1974 Dr. Gerald
C. Preston serves as the chair of the Math Dept. During this time San
Jose State’s name
changes from San Jose State College to Cal
State University,
San Jose, to its modern name of San Jose State University. Faculty members joining the Math Dept.
during this decade include professors, John Mitchem (1970-2004) Graph Theory
and Combinatorics Ph.D. Western Michigan, Howard Swann (1970-2003) Partial
Differential Equations/Applied Math Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Michael Burke
(1972-2004) Numerical Analysis/CS Ph.D. Oregon, Max Agoston (1976-2001)
Topology/Computer Graphics Ph.D. Yale, William Giles (1973-2001) Lie
Algebras/CS Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Henson Graves (1976-1991) Computer Science Ph.D.
McMaster, Marilyn Blockus (1979-) Algebraic Topology Ph.D. John Hopkins, Brian
Peterson (1979-) Algebra/Number Theory Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Veril Phillips
(1979-) Algebra/CS Ph.D. Michigan State, David Posner (1978-1989) Logic/CS
Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Barbara Pence (1974-) Math Education Ph.D. Stanford, and
Edward Schmeichel Graph Theory/Algorithms Ph.D. Northwestern (1979-). Dr. Bird was the recipient of a distinguished
teaching award from SJS in 1970. The
1972-74 catalog still shows a 1-unit course Math 3 Slide Rule on how to use a
slide rule to perform various mathematical calculations. As a sign of the times, the title of the Math
3 course is changed to Pocket Calculator in the 1974-76 catalog. In the 1970’s Dr. Swann writes a highly
popular cartoon-based calculus book entitled Professor E. McSquared’s Original,
Fantastic and Highly Edifying Calculus Primer.
From 1974-1977 Dr. Franklyn B. Fuller serves as the
chair of the Math Dept. At this
time a BA Math concentration in Statistics and BA Math concentration in
Computer Mathematics are developed.
Franklyn Fuller dies in 1977. The
Franklin B. Fuller Scholarship fund was established in 1977 to honor his
memory. Professor Fuller had graduated
from the Math Dept. in 1946. He then got
a Ph.D. degree at Stanford and worked at NASA Ames Research Center
from the late 50's until 1970. He
maintained ties with the department throughout his career by teaching here
part-time while working for NASA. After
retiring from NASA in 1970, Professor Fuller came to teach full-time at San Jose State.
After his death in 1977, many generous contributions were made to this
scholarship fund by his former coworkers at NASA as well as his friends in the
Math department. The first Fuller
scholarship winners were 1978, Katherine McClain, and 1979, Daniel F.
Chenet. From 1977-79 Dr. John Mitchem
serves the first part of his tenure as Math Dept. chair. Professor Mitchem becomes well known for his
battles against the GLOPP (Great Lovers of Pushing Paper). Unfortunately the forces of GLOPP seem to be
getting stronger and the battle still rages on today. In 1978 the first Expanding Your Horizons
conference is held at San Jose
State. Its purpose is to encourage interest in math
and science from middle school and high school girls. In the 1974-76 catalog, a new programming in
Fortran IV course appears, in the 1976-78 catalog a
new programming in BASIC course appears, and in the 1978-80 catalog a new
programming in Pascal course appears. The number of students attending San Jose State remains fairly stable and
increases just slightly to 26,000 by the end of this decade. From 1970-1978 John H. Bunzel serves as the
president of San Jose
State. Gail J. Fullerton becomes San Jose State's
first female president serving from 1978-1991.
1980-85
From 1980-85 Dr. John Mitchem continues as the Math Dept.
chair. A Math Club is started in 1980, the first officers are Stephanie Patterson, President,
Tim Smith, Vice President, Sylvia Ernes, Secretary, and Dan Chenet,
Treasurer. In the 1980’s the Math
Department starts a period of explosive growth matching the growth of the
computer industry in Silicon Valley. In 1981 the name of the department is changed
to the Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science. The Math Club follows and soon morphs into
the Math/CS Club. Throughout the 1980’s
and 1990’s the Dept. of Math and Computer Science was the largest department on
the SJSU campus. New faculty joining the
Math Dept. during this period include Leslie Foster (1981-) Numerical
Analysis/Scientific Computation Ph.D. Brown, Michael Beeson (1981-) Logic/CS
Ph.D. Stanford, David Hayes (1981-2006) Graph Theory/CS Ph.D. UC Davis, Ken
Kellum (1981-) Real Analysis/Topology Ph.D. Alabama, Jeff Smith (1981-)
Algebra/CS Ph.D. Chicago, Jane Day (1982-) Linear Algebra Ph.D. Florida,
Vladimir Naroditsky (1982-1993) Functional Analysis/Applied Math Ph.D. Denver,
John Pearce (1982-) Logic/CS Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Dan Goldston (1983-) Number
Theory Ph.D. UC Berkeley, Brad Jackson (1983-) Graph Theory/Combinatorics Ph.D.
Maryland, Richard Kubelka (1983-) Algebraic Topology Ph.D. Stanford, Richard
Pfiefer (1983-) Geometry/Convexity Ph.D. UC Davis, Joanne Becker (1984-) Math
Edcation Ph.D. Maryland, Sin-Min Lee (1984-) Graph Theory/CS Ph.D. Stevens
Inst. of Technology, Hidefume Katsuura (1984-) Topology Ph.D. Delaware, Mack
Stanley (1984-) Logic/Set Theory Ph.D. UC Berkeley, and Ho Kuen Ng (1984-)
Algebra/Actuarial Science Ph.D. UC Berkeley.
The Fuller scholarship winners in 1980 are Ronald Bretschneider and
Richard Daniels. In 1980 Dr. Verner E.
Hoggatt dies during the summer. He was
the co-founder of the Fibonacci Association and the editor of the associated
journal the Fibonacci Quarterly. He
authored or co-authored over 150 research papers in number theory (mostly
related to Fibonacci numbers) and supervised 37 students with their master’s
thesis research. The Fibonacci
Association announces the funding of an annual Verner E. Hoggatt prize, which
is to be awarded each year to the student in the Math department with the best
research potential. In 1981 the first
Hoggatt prize is awarded to Michael Lai who finished in the top 25% nationally
in the Putnam Exam during his first two years at San Jose State. In 1981 Alan Emerson a Mathematics graduate
student is awarded a $2000 ARCS scholarship.
Math graduate student Sharon Cabaniss received a $2500 ARCS scholarship
in 1982 and later got a PhD in graph theory at the University
of California, Santa Cruz.
By 1982 there are two well-established faculty seminars in the Math
Dept., the algebra and number theory seminar as well as the graph theory and
combinatorics seminar. Other seminars
(logic, topology, functional analysis, etc.) meet occasionally. The number of full-time equivalent students
taught by the department in 1982-83 is roughly 1450, about twice the number as
in 1976-77. The number of full-time
equivalent faculty has increased from about 40 to 66 in the same time
span. In 1982 the Math Dept. opens up a
microcomputer lab in MH 234, which contains 12 Northstar Advantage systems, 5
Apple II systems, 2 Compucolor systems and 1 Atari system. Chair John Mitchem receives the MAA’s Polya
award for noteworthy expository writing for his article “The History and
Solution of the Four-Color Map Problem”.
In 1982 Richard Dieckmann dies. He
leaves two life insurance policies totaling $10,000 to the department to fund
the Richard H.C. Dieckmann Scholarship.
Professor Dieckmann taught in the Math Dept. for 26 years ending with
his retirement in 1972. Professor James
Dolby is awarded a 2.2 million dollar grant on the “Language of Data” from the
System Development Foundation. In 1983
he wins the Dean’s Award for Exemplary Research. In 1982 Professor Marjorie Fitting receives
one of the two Dean’s Awards for Exemplary teaching. In 1982 Karel Zikan receives the Hoggatt
Prize and along with Marilyn Ciraulo is awarded a Fuller scholarship. Karel also receives recognition as the
outstanding student researcher in the College of Science. In 1990 he receives a PhD in Operations
Research at Stanford and becomes a Fulbright fellow/Fulbright professor at
SUNY, Stony Brook where he publishes nearly 40 scientific papers and is awarded
about a dozen different patents in the applied math department. In 1983 Katherine Sarin is awarded the first
Dieckmann scholarship. Math and CS
department scholarships are also awarded for the first time during 1983 to Alan
Lam, Paul Farias, Sam Tam, Han Kee Tan, and Michael Timpano-Perrotta. In Spring 1983 the
Applied Math and Computer Science Clinic is started by Jane Day. She acts as the director for the next 6
years. It is modeled after the Math
Clinic at the Claremont
Graduate School. The first Clinic project is supervised by Les
Foster, who helps a team of students develop computer models of the
2-dimensional heat flow in semiconductor structures. In spring 1984 Professor Jackson with the
help of a graduate student Keith Martinez from the Physics Dept. starts the
Spartan Juggling club. The Spartan
Juggling Club is still supervised by Professors Jackson and Pfiefer to this
day. In 1984 Marilyn Ciraulo wins a
$3000 ARCS scholarship. Professor Jim
Smart receives SJSU’s outstanding professor award for 1983-84. By the end of 1984 six, semester-long
projects, have been completed by the Applied Math and Computer Science
Clinic. In 1984 Deanna Diaz joins the
office staff in the Math Dept. office.
Scholarship winners in 1984 are Hoggatt Prize Dung Le Hoang, Fuller
Scholarships Dung Le Hoang, Erin Barker, Dieckmann
scholarships Patricia Dowden, Nam Duc Nguyen, and Math/CS scholarship Katherine
Sarin.
1985-1989
From 1985-1989 Veril Phillips serves as the Math Dept.
chair. Mildred Martinelli, a graduate
student in our department receives a $5000 ARCS scholarship. Professor James Smart receives a Dean’s Award
for Exemplary Academic Citizenship. New
faculty members joining the Math Dept. during this period are professors Eloise
Hamann (1985-2006) Commutative Algebra/Ring Theory Ph.D. Minnesota, Kenneth
Louden (1985-) Ring Theory/CS Ph.D. McGill, Evelyn Obaid (1985-) Algebra/CS
Ph.D. Penn State, Samih Obaid (1985-) Complex Analysis/Applied Math Ph.D. Penn
State, Leon Pesotchinsky (1985-1997) Statistics Ph.D. Leningrad State, Tatiana
Shubin (1986-) Algebra/Number Theory Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara, Igor Malyshev
(1986-2007) PDE/Applied Math Ph.D. Kiev State U., Hedley Morris (1986-2007)
Applied Math Ph.D. U. London, Rudy Rucker (1986-2001) Logic/CS/Science Fiction
Ph.D. Rutgers, Frank Flanigan (1986-1997) Algebra/Number Theory Ph.D. UC
Berkeley, Roger Alperin (1987-) Algebra Ph.D. Rice University, Natasa Bozovic
(1987-) Group Theory/CS Ph.D. U. of Belgrade, Randall Charles (1987-1997) Math
Education Ph.D. Indiana, Cay Horstmann (1987-) Algebraic Geometry/CS Ph.D.
Michigan, David Motte (1987-1997) Applied Math Ph.D. UC Riverside, Bem Cayco
(1988-) Partial Differential Equations/Computational Math, Ph.D.
Carnegie-Mellon, Walter Kirchherr (1988-) Complexity Theory/CS Ph.D. U.
Illinois at Chicago, John Avila (1989-) Parallel Algorithms/CS Ph.D. Maryland,
Amy Rocha (1989-2005) Probability/Stochastic Processes Ph.D. Stanford, and
Roger Dodd (1989-) Applied Math Ph.D Hull University, England. In 1985 the department develops a new
computer science degree, the BS in computer science. Each faculty office in MacQuarrie Hall is
equipped with a terminal networked to two AT & T 3B2/300 computers. Dr. James Dolby unexpectedly dies in Fall 1985. Professor
Dolby was unquestionably one of the outstanding scholars at SJSU. He had published about 100 papers and books
in his career and had received a 2.2 million grant for his Language of Data
Research project, at that time the largest research grant ever received by a
faculty member at San Jose
State. Scholarship winners in 1985 are Hoggatt
Prize, Seana Hogan, Dieckmann scholarship, Seana Hogan, Jackson Shyu, Fuller
Scholarships, Bud Chiu Kwan, Christopher S. O’Connor, Math & CS
scholarships, Carole Doan and Noriko Hayashi.
In the summer of 1986 the International Juggler’s Association holds its
annual summer meeting at San Jose
State University. Stewart Kramer wins a $5000 ARCS scholarship
in 1986. Scholarship winners in 1986 are
Hoggatt prize, Mark McKinzie, Fuller Scholarship, Barry Marshall, Fuller
scholarship, Chris O’Connor, Dieckmann scholarship, Radhika Sugavanam, Math
& CS scholarships, Jackson Shyu and Jenny Cheung. Mark McKinzie and Allen Chang win prizes for
the 1st and 2nd highest scores on the Putnam Exam,
respectively. Marilyn Ruch wins the
Dean’s Award as an exemplary staff member and Dr. Jane Day receives the Dean’s
Award for Distinguished teaching.
Scholarship winners in 1987 are Hoggatt prize, Nam Hoang Nguyen, Fuller
scholarships, Nam Hoang Nguyen, Jeff Johnson, Dieckmann scholarships, Francesca
Wong, Letitia Jensen, Math & CS scholarships, Bobbi Barry, Rohitkumar Desai, Frances Huang, Toan Huynh, Nhi Lam, and Radhika Sugavanam, and Putnam prizes, 1st
place Stewart Kramer, 2nd place Tom Hicks, Mark McKinzie, and Karl
Volk. The Woodward Fund was established
with a bequest of $600,000 to the Department of Mathematics in 1986 from Mrs.
Marie Woodward, in memory of her son Henry Teynham Woodward. Henry
Woodward received an MS Math from SJSU in 1957.
He worked for many years as a research scientist at NASA Ames where he
studied the atmosphere of Venus until his death in 1984. The First Woodward conference on Problems
Involving Wave Phenomena is held at SJSU in June 1988. The Applied Math Clinic becomes an organized
research unit and changes its name to the Center for Applied Math and Computer
Science (CAMCOS). The Woodward fund is
now used to support CAMCOS and Applied Math programs in our department. Dean Lester Lange retires after 18 years as
the dean of the School
of Science. The new dean is Alan Ling. He immediately slashes the equipment budget
for the Math/CS department and quickly becomes very unpopular in our
department. The scholarship winners in
1988 are Hoggatt prize, Jenny Koo, Fuller scholarships, Nam Hoang Nguyen,
Nguyen Dinh Le, and Grant Martin, Dieckmann scholarships, Karen Leann Godard,
Jenny Koo, Francesca Wong Budiman, Math & CS scholarships, Gary Wilson,
Hedieh Yaghmai, Rebecca Wahl, Todd Hansen, and Putnam prize winners are Kevin
Whyte and Nam Hoang Nguyen. Casey
Sheehan from our department wins the first Fitting award. This prize is named in honor of Frederick N.
Fitting, a successful entrepreneur, friend of the School of Science,
and late husband of Professor Marjorie Fitting.
The second Woodward Conference on Nonlinear Structures in Physical
Systems is held in 1989. By the end of
1989, more then 30 CAMCOS projects have been completed. From 1989-91, Dan Goldston becomes the
newsletter editor and the Buster Archimedes – Dan Goldston – Ken Bradshaw feud
goes public. The scholarship winners in
1989 are Hoggatt prize, Brian Tvedt, Fuller scholarships, Connie Tak-Yin
Cheung, Sai Ming Fung, Prema Jayashankar, Nhi A. Lam,
Dieckmann scholarships Phuong Nguyen, Hedieh Yagmai, Math and CS scholarships
Laurence Dang, Julie Mitchell, and Putnam prize winners, Brian Tvedt 1st place,
Daniel Jorgenson 2nd place, Daniel Lawson 3rd place. At the end of this decade the number of
students attending SJSU first reaches 30,000.
1990-1995
From 1990-1993 Veril Phillips finishes his 2nd
four-year term as the math department chair.
At about this time a new faculty seminar starts meeting, the computer
science seminar. At the Math Dept.
picnic in the spring of 1990, the faculty lose to the
students in the annual student-faculty softball game 16-13 for the first time
ever. The Mathematics and Computer Science Education
Center is formed in
1989. In 1990 John Mitchem and Jon
Pearce receive Fulbright awards to teach in Africa. The new faculty joining the Math & CS
Dept. during this decade include professors T.Y. Lin (1990-) Database
security/CS Ph.D. Yale, Mohammed Saleem (1990-) Numerical Analysis/Applied Math
Ph.D. UC Davis, Linda Valdes (1990-) Graph Theory/Algorithms Ph.D. UC Santa
Cruz, Vladimir Drobot (1990-) Number Theory Ph.D. Illinois, Agustin Araya
(1991-) machine learning/CS Ph.D. Texas, Sami Khuri (1992-) Algorithms Ph.D.
Syracuse, and Melody Moh (1993-) Networks Ph.D. UC Davis. The Math Dept. scholarship winners in 1990
include Hoggatt prize Tanya Boboricken, Fuller scholarships, Tanya Boboricken,
Susan L. Hansen, Yu-Lin Tai, Allen K.S. Yuen, Dieckmann scholarships, Isabelle
C. Coja, Scott Corcoran, Vandana Mundy, Richard O'Neill, Tho Tran, Math/CS
Dept. scholarships Grant Martin, Minh Nguyen, Cheuk Kin Wong, Zhang Yang,
Putnam prizes Daniel Lawson 1st place Julie Mitchell 2nd
place and Christopher Jang 3rd place. The beginning computer science courses CS
46A, 46B, and 146A now all are taught using PASCAL. In 1991 three Math and CS department students
William S. Dunlap, Susan L. Hansen, and Christopher D. Jang win $5000 ARCS
scholarships. Three math majors Tanya
Boboricken, Rebecca Wahl, and Bernadette Moise are awarded Pre-doctoral
grants. The Math Dept. scholarship
winners in 1991 include Hoggatt prize Julie Mitchell, Fuller scholarships Sayah
Beheshti, Tanya Boboricken, Suhair Halteh, Craig Hamilton, Alice Lee, Connie
Schlechter, Zhenfang Zhang, Dieckmann scholarships, William Dunlap, Allan Gale,
Julie Mitchell, Sylvia Valdes, Wei Zhang.
In 1992 plans are announced that a new Science building will be built to
house the Math and Computer Science department.
After 15 years we’re still waiting.
Professor Paul Byrd dies in the spring of 1991. He first came to SJSU in 1959 as a part-time
instructor while he worked full time at NASA Ames. After retiring from NASA in
1974 he started working full-time at San
Jose State. During his tenure at San Jose State
he supervised 17 master’s thesis students.
Overall he taught for 30 years in the Math Dept. His most famous publication was the Handbook
of Elliptic Integrals for Engineers and Scientists, which was published by
Springer-Verlag. Plans to fund a new
scholarship in his honor are announced shortly after his death. Kent Okasaki, a former student, and various
colleagues from the department contribute money to fund this scholarship. The Math Dept. scholarship winners in 1992
include Hoggatt prize Jeffrey Stride, Fuller scholarships Wenqing Fang, Daniel
Lawson, Dieckmann scholarships Gene Yao, Math/CS Dept. scholarships Tanya
Boboricken, Jeffrey Stride, Wei Zhang, Putnam prize Christopher Jang 1st
place.
In 1993 Veril
Phillips steps down as Math and CS department chair to become the Associate
Dean of Faculty Affairs. From 1993-1997
Eloise Hamann takes his place as the Math and CS department
chair. The 1993 scholarship
winners are Hoggatt prize, Fred Bourgoin, Fuller Scholarships, Zhang Wei, Fang
Wenqing, Karl Yorston, Dieckmann scholarships, Yufeng Cheng, Marlene Dwyer,
Howard Lin, Math and CS scholarships, Nui Ming Chu, Ahmad Yousef Darwiche,
Chieko Honma, Mark Hessenflow, Silvia Lopez, Lisa Villanueva, Yi-Wen Wang, and
Jeffrey O’Connell becomes the first recipient of the Bradshaw award honoring
the best math department TA. This award
honors emeritus professor Ken Bradshaw, known as an excellent teacher throughout
his career in the Math Dept. He first
joined the department in 1958 and served for many years as the associate
chair. In 1993 Karl Yorston also wins a
$5000 ARCS scholarship. In 1993 ex-dean
(and ex-math dept. chair) Lester Lange receives the MAA Polya award for his
article, “A Random Ladder Game: Permutations, Eigenvalues, and Convergence of
Markov Chains”. This
award, established in 1976, is named after the renowned teacher and writer
George Polya, and is given for articles of expository excellence published in
the College Mathematics Journal.
Also in 1993 Dmitri Thoro is awarded a life-time membership in the Santa
Clara Valley Mathematics Association for his many contributions to that
organization, including his many years of helping to organize the Math Field
Day for high school students which is held annually at
San Jose State University. At about this time the Math/CS Dept. starts
to use the C programming language in its introductory programming courses. In addition, the Math/CS Dept. starts to
offer a Novell network management certificate.
In 1994 Dr. Jane Day receives the MAA Northern California Section award
for distinguished college or university teaching. Marc Knobel receives a $5000 ARCS scholarship
in 1994. The math dept. scholarship
winners for 1994 are Hoggatt prize, Mark Hessenflow, Bradshaw award, Elizabeth Milanovich, Byrd scholarship
Gene Yau, Takeuchi scholarship, Wenqing Fang, Fuller scholarships, Gretchen Ann
Ehlers, Marc Knobel, Juliekara Techasaratoole, and Winston Wheeler, Dieckmann
scholarships, Thu Ton, Aida Youssef, Math & CS scholarships, Kin Ling
Cheng, Teresa L. Chiu, Loren Vanderbeek, Aye Aye Mya Ma, Sanja Petrovic, and
Putnam prize winners, William C. Bynum and Sanja Petrovic. In the mid-90’s the
math dept. experiments with the introduction of graphing calculators and the
use of the Harvard reform calculus books in its calculus sequence. The computer science program was officially
accredited in 1994. Mathematics graduate
student Gretchen Ehlers was awarded a prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Teacher Fellowship
for 1994-95. In 1995 the last pieces of
asphalt from what was once San
Carlos street (which was permanently closed in
1994) are removed and replaced by grass and trees. At the same time the interior of MacQuarrie Hall is
renovated including upgrades and improvements to the Math and CS department
network. The Math and CS department gets
its first web site in 1995. The
scholarship winners in 1995 include Hoggatt prize, Aida Youssef, Byrd Award,
Sanja Petrovic, Bradshaw award Colin T. Anderson, Fuller scholarships, Steven
Shing-Kai Cheung, Tae Ho Kim, Jonny K. Lo, Colin Anderson, Dieckmann
scholarships, Janet C. Glosup, Marc S. Knobel, Math and CS scholarships,
Mei-Wern Chang, Elizabeth S. Milanovich, Jeffrey P. O’Connell, Savitha
Sathyanarayana, Sandeep Venkatesh Shenoy, Shubhra Sitholey, and Sherilynn
Skiba. From 1991-1994
J. Handel Evans serves as the interim president of San Jose State. Starting in 1994 Robert L. Caret becomes the
president of San Jose
State.
1995-1999
In 1997 Eloise Hamann finishes her term as the Math/CS
chair. In 1996 Ken Bradshaw was honored
with a lifetime membership in the Santa Clara Valley Mathematics Association
for his dedication to mathematics education.
Also in 1996 Professor Joanne Becker becomes the vice president of the
Northern Section of the California Council of Mathematics. The Math Dept. scholarship winners in 1996
are Hoggatt prize, Sarah Kong, Bradshaw award Marlene Dwyer, Byrd award, Sanja
Petrovic, Fuller scholarships, Janet Glosup, Parisa Safa, Dieckmann
scholarships, Teresa Chiu, Randolph Schmidt, Math and CS Dept. scholarships,
Mei Wern Cheng, Lily Dalton, Annapoorani Ganesan, Anna Strong, Colin Anderson,
Farideh Dormishian, Debbie Gonzalez, Cathy Humphreys, Hongpin Lin, Xiaomin Qu,
Sandeep Shenoy, Saraswati Tumuluri, Omobola Wusu, Jiaoyang Zhou and Fujitsu
Scholarships, Samantha Mbozi-Harding, Bang Nguyen, Shubhra Sitholey, Hang Tran,
Aida Youssef. Cem Yalcin Yildirim, a
Turkish number theorist, visits the Math Dept. in 1996. He later teams with Dan Goldston to prove
some important new results regarding the spacing of primes. In 1996, 6 generous donors, Rick Warner,
Wenquing Fang, Steve Leonard, Al Halteman, Arthur Hiatt, and Eloise Hamann, who
each donated $1000 or more to the Math/CS Dept. Upgrade, are honored for their
much-appreciated contributions.
From 1997- 2001
Michael Burke serves as the new chair of the Math and CS Dept. The department develops a new emphasis MA
Math – Emphasis in Secondary Mathematics Education designed for pre-service and
practicing secondary mathematics teachers.
One new faculty member joins the Math Dept. in 1998, Cheryl Roddick, Mathematics
Education Ph.D.
Ohio State. At about this time the Math and CS
department starts to use C++ as the language of choice for the introductory
programming courses. The departmental
computer labs are upgraded so that every computer in every student lab is a
Pentium processor with 32 MB of RAM running Windows NT. In Fall 1997 the
number of students enrolled in CS courses rises by 30%, the number of students
in math courses rises by about 10%. This
rapid growth continues for several years during the dotcom boom. The 1997 Math Dept. scholarship winners
include Hoggatt prize, Sanja Petrovic, Fuller scholarships, Bangtam Nguyen,
Anna Strong, Byrd award, Sean Bohaty, Bradshaw award, Ken Nowak, Dieckmann
scholarships, Yin Chen, Janet Glosup, Hang Tran, and Linda Yang, Math/CS Dept.
scholarships William Browning, Farideh Dormishian, Annapoorani Ganesa, Samantha
Mbozi-Harding, Christopher Taylor, Ashima Verma, Dongming Yao, Sandy Zhang,
Jiao Yang Zhou. The Math/CS Dept. begins
an internship program supervised by Professor John Avila, which pairs up
students with internships at local companies.
The department also develops a certificate in Unix Systems
Administration. Professors Tatiana
Shubin and David Hayes are instrumental in helping to develop the Math Circles,
Bay Area Mathematical Adventures (BAMA), and Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad
(BAMO), which are designed to promote interest in mathematics among talented
middle school and high school students.
The 1998 Math Dept. scholarship winners include Hoggatt prize, Angela
Tran, Bradshaw award, Janet Glosup, Jose Trujillo, Byrd award, Guillermo
Paniagua, Fuller scholarships, Annapoorani Ganesan, Xiuhui Sylvia Li, Tai Manh
Nguyen, Linda Yang, Dieckmann scholarships, Amy Burns, Paul Sumares, Ashima
Verma, Liming Xiang, Math & CS Dept. scholarships, Yin Chen, Fariden
Dormishan, Hang Thanh Thu Ngo, Bangtam Thi Nguyen, and Nikunjkumar Patel. At about this time JAVA becomes the official
language in the introductory CS courses.
The 1999 scholarship winners are Hoggatt, Julie Varner, Bradshaw, Linda
Roper, Loretta Silverman, Byrd, Mark Mitchell, Fuller scholarships, Joseph
Tran, Tam Minh Tran, Sandy Zhang, Dieckmann scholarships, Denise Nguyen, Amidha
Shyamsukha, Paul Sumares, Yanhong Zhao, Math & CS Dept scholarships, Dawn
Chang, Danielle Hogan, Kwai-Hing Man, Hang Ngo, Bangtam Nguyen, Anna Strong,
Angela Tran. At about this time Brad Jackson
organizes an annual Problem of the Week competition, which is held each fall to
encourage interest in problem solving and to increase student participation in
the Putnam Exam, a nationwide problem solving competition.
2000-2005
Dr. Mike Burke finishes his term as Math Dept. chair in
2001. The 2000 Math Dept. scholarship
winners are Hoggatt prize, Danielle Hogan, Byrd award, Paul Boone, Bradshaw
award, Anh Nguyen, Fuller scholarships,
Hui Chen, Rishi Manocha, Lifeng Shen, Dieckmann scholarships, Robert
Cee, Akarsha Kumar, Bangthan Thi Nguyen, and Sandy Nguyen, Math/CS Dept.
scholarships Jennifer Aparisi, Nadia Ghamrawi, Kwai-Hing Man, Mark Mitchell,
Kelvin Shum, Anna Strong, Angela Tran, Abhinand Vase. After Dr. Burke steps down as the Math/CS Dept.
chair , Dr. David Hayes serves as the last chair of
the combined Math and Computer Science department from 2001-02. New computer science faculty
joining the Math/CS Dept. in 2001 are professors Robert Chun, Steve
Kennedy, Suneuy Kim, and Chris Pollett.
New math faculty joining the Math/CS Dept. in 2001 are Julie Sliva (2000-) Math Education Ph.D. North Carolina, Steve Crunk (2001-) Statistics
Ph.D. U. of Pennsylvania and Tim Hsu (2001-) Algebra/Combinatorics Ph.D.
Princeton. Dr. Hsu immediately becomes
the new CAMCOS director and proceeds to revive this program, which had been
dormant for several years. Many new
CAMCOS projects with scientists from NASA Ames are initiated. In 2001 Professor Joanne Becker receives the
Edward Begle Memorial Award for her many achievements and her leadership in the
math education community in California. The 2001 Math Dept. scholarship winners are
Hoggatt prize, Rose George, Byrd award, Ramanjit Sahi, Lei Wang, Bradshaw
award, David Barnes, Fuller scholarships, Faun Hammon, Elo Leung, Dieckmann
scholarships, Nadia Ghamrawi, Mark Mitchell, Math/CS Dept. scholarships Sudha
Duvuru, Tim Fish, Lynh Pham, Harakchand Vira, James Dimaggio, Hong Li,
Kwai-Hing Man, Kristanto Oetmo. In 2001-02
the number of students taught by the Math Dept. reaches an all-time high of
more than 2700 FTES. In Fall 2002 the Math and CS Department splits into separate
Math and Computer Science Departments.
The CS department retains the second floor office (MH 208) and the Math
Dept. office moves to the third floor (MH 308).
After the split David Hayes becomes the chair of the computer science
department and Roger Alperin becomes the chair of the Math Dept. from Fall 2002-Fall 2003.
At about this time the Math Dept. offers its first online courses. Professor Morris offers an online Math 8
College Algebra and Trigonometry course and Professor Bozovic offers online
courses in Math 70 Finite Math and Math 19 Precalculus. New faculty members joining the Math Dept. in
2002 are professors Trisha Bergthold (2002-) Math
Education Ph.D. U. of Oklahoma and Ferdinand Rivera (2002-) Math Education
Ph.D. Ohio
State. The 2002 Math Dept. scholarship winners are
Hoggatt prize, Charles O'Sullivan, Byrd award, David Barnes, Rafaello
Colasante, Bradshaw award, Tim Fish, Fuller scholarships, Ramanjit Sahi,
Sundararajan Arabhi, Stephanie Bagneris, Dieckmann scholarships, Rachel
Burnsed, Nadia Ghamrawi, Yim Lee. In
2003 Professor Dan Goldston and his Turkish colleague Cem Yalcin Yildirim
announce a major new result concerning the spacings between primes. While their original theorem is flawed after
two years of additional work they correct their theorem and a short slick proof
of this result is produced. Professor
Goldston is selected, as the San Jose State Scholar of the Year, in 2005 by
President Don Kassing. The 2003 Math
Dept. scholarship winners are Hoggatt prize, Qiang Wang, Bradshaw award, James
Kittock, Byrd award, Tuanh Nguyen, Alina Alt, Faun Maddux, Ivan Zaigralin,
Xinrong Liu, Felipe Ibarra, Fuller scholarship, Claude Cassano, Dieckmann
scholarships Tuanh Nguyen, Alina Alt, and Faun Maddux.
After Roger
Alperin steps down as the Math Dept chair Eloise Hamann offers to serve as the
interim Math Dept. chair for 3 semesters from Spring
2004 - Spring 2005. Dr. Hamann comments
that it is much more enjoyable and less stressful to be the chair of the Math
Dept. alone (after the split) than it was being the chair of the combined Math
and CS Dept. On the downside after the
end of the dotcom boom Math Dept. enrollments drop by about 25% from 2001-02 to
2005-06, enrollments in the CS Dept. drop by more than 50%. New faculty joining the Math Dept. in 2004
are professors Slobodan Simic (2004-) Dynamical
Systems Ph.D. UC Berkeley and Dimitar Grantcharov (2004-) Lie Algebras Ph.D. UC
Riverside. The 2004 Math Dept.
scholarship winners are Hoggatt prize, Claude Cassano, Bradshaw award, Tuanh
Gia Nguyen, Byrd award, Maheen Khan, Fuller scholarship, Uldarico Muico, Dieckmann
scholarships, Siu Ming Choy, Kim Dang, Morton award, Dashiell Fryer, Rosalind
Le, Math Dept. scholarships, Nita Barve, Nathalie Grima. Also in 2004, Math Department masters student , James Kittock wins one of the two the SJSU
outstanding thesis awards. Professor Amy
Rocha dies in Spring 2005 and a special memorial is
held at the beginning of the fall semester.
Susan McClory, the long-time director of the department's developmental
math program, receives the first (2005) San Jose State Lecturer of the Year
award. The Math Dept. finally gets its
own common room and a sink is added in 2006.
The department decides to name the common room after Les Lange, longtime
Math Dept. chair and Dean of the School
of Science. In 2003 Robert L. Caret steps down as the
president of San Jose State to become the president at Towson State
University. Don Kassing becomes the interim president of San Jose State.
2005-
In 2005 Brad Jackson becomes the Math dept. chair, wisely
taking a one semester sabbatical in Victoria,
Canada before
he starts. Dr. Mohammed Saleem receives
an SJSU Teacher-Scholar award in 2005.
One new faculty member joins the Math Dept. in 2005, Bee Leng Lee, Statistics/Biostatistics Ph.D. Wisconsin.
The 2005 Math Dept. scholarship winners are Hoggatt prize, Dashiell
Fryer, Byrd award Matthew Lewinski, Bradshaw award, Faun Maddux, Fuller
scholarships, Marian Hofer, Maheen Khan, Dieckmann scholarships, Uldarico
Muico, Morton award, Khanh Nguyen, Math Dept. scholarship, Tu Anh Nguyen. Slate blackboards, overhead projectors, and
TVs, in our MacQuarrie Hall classrooms are gradually being replaced by
whiteboards and LCD projectors.
Professor Bee Leng Lee (2005-) Statistics Ph.D.
U. of Wisconsin joins our faculty in 2005.
John Mitchem officially retires in 2005-06 after many years of serving
the Math Dept. including 8 years as its chair.
In 2006 Dr. Tatiana Shubin receives the MAA Northern California Section
award for distinguished college or university teaching. At the same time, Professors Dan Goldston and
Joanne Becker are named co-Professors of the year for 2006 by the Santa Clara
Valley Mathematics Association. Also in
2006 Dr. Joanne Becker receives an SJSU Teacher-Scholar award. Eloise Hamann retires in 2006-07. She had served as the math department chair
twice for a total of 5.5 years. The Math
Club gets a room in 2006 (sharing MH 226 with the CS club). The 2006 Math Dept. scholarship winners are
Hoggatt prize, Weitao Wu, Byrd award Cuong Dong, Bradshaw award, Viet Nguyen,
Fuller scholarships, Katherine Shelley, Dieckmann scholarships, Alex Huang,
Senorina Vazquez, Morton award, Khanh Nguyen, Math Dept. scholarship, Michael
Vartanian, and Putnam prizes, 1st place Cuong Dong. In Spring 2007 Dr.
Martin Billik retires after 45 years in the Math Dept., a longevity record that
will likely never be matched. Hedley
Morris also retires in 2006-2007During 2007, the 29th annual
Expanding Your Horizons conference and the 45th annual Math Field
Day are both held at San Jose State. Though this year for the first time the Math Dept. is required to
purchase liability insurance to hold these activities at San Jose State
(that's progress for you). The
2007 MAA MathFest will be held in San
Jose this summer jointly with the annual meeting of
the Society for Mathematical Biology.
The Math Dept. is in the midst of organizing a Professional Science
Master's Degree in Applied Math and Statistics.
A Professional Science Master's Degree is a terminal degree that is
designed to give the best possible training for students that want to work for business,
government, or industry. The 2007 Math
Dept. scholarship winners are Hoggatt prize, Cuong Dong, Byrd award Siddhartha
Kanungo, Bradshaw award, Tracy Holsclaw, Fuller scholarships, Ryan Flarity,
Katherine Shelley, Dieckmann scholarships, Wilson Florero, Abera Jiru, Morton
award, Michael Vartanian, Math Dept. scholarship, Masayo Sato, and Putnam
prizes, 1st place Cuong Dong and 2nd place Siddhartha
Kanungo. Cuong Dong also wins the
undergraduate division of the Problem of the Week competition for the 3rd
consecutive year. Dr. Ferdinand Rivera
receives an SJSU Teacher-Scholar award for 2007, the third consecutive year
that this award is given to a math dept. faculty member. During the summer the MAA MathFest will be
held in downtown San Jose. This year the
MAA will be meeting jointly with Pi
Mu Epsilon, the Society for Mathematical Biology,
the Euler Society, and the Women Count Conference. Many of the faculty hired in the 1980's, are
now approaching retirement age and the Math Dept. will likely go through a new
wave of hiring in the next few years. One
new faculty member will be joining the Math Dept. in Fall
2007, Martina Bremer Statistics/Biostatistics Ph.D. Purdue. In 2007-2008, the Math Department hires two
new applied math faculty, Plamen Koev PhD University of California, Berkeley
and Jared Maruskin Dynamical Systems PhD Applied Math, University of Michigan,
in hopes of getting some energetic young faculty members who will be willing
and eager to supervise CAMCOS projects.
In Fall 2007 Siddhartha Kanungo wins the
undergraduate division of the annual Math Department Problem of the Week
competition by getting a perfect score on every problem. Cuong Dong comes in second even though he had
perfect scores on every problem but the last one. Michael Pejic was the winner of the graduate
division of the POW. Siddhartha Kanungo,
Cuong Dong, and Phuong Ho score a total 57 points on the Putnam Exam and the
SJSU team ends up roughly at the 10th percentile of the 500+ teams
participating nationwide. Scholarship
winners for 2007-2008 are Hoggatt prize Siddhartha Kanungo, Bradshaw award
Simon Ward, Math Dept. scholarship Chris Fowler, Fuller scholarships Anita
Chinthalapati and Peter Hansen, Dieckmann scholarship Sejal Dharia, Byrd
scholarship Michael Pejic, Morton award Leslie Stamm. The first Billik prize in Analysis was
awarded this year to Jason Smith for his research and classwork in Partial
Differential Equations. A generous
donation by Emeritus Faculty Martin Billik who spent 45 years in the Math
Department (1961-2007) is used to fund this award to a student who does
outstanding classwork or research in the area of analysis (ODE, PDE, numerical
analysis, real analysis, or complex analysis).
At the annual Pi Day party with the Math Club, one student correctly
remembers more than 90 digits of pi in the pi repeating contest. Seven years after the Math Department and CS
departments split, we hold a joint Math/CS picnic in spring 2008. A masters student in
mathematics, Katherine Shelley, wins one of two SJSU outstanding thesis awards
for 2008. Two Math Department faculty
members, Igor Malyshev and Don Weddington, retire in 2007-2008. In 2006 a new BS Applied
and Computational Math, Emphasis in Economics, Finance, and Actuarial Science,
was approved. Kristofer Kraynick, a 2008
Math Dept. graduate is the first student to satisfy the requirements of this
program.
That’s all for now. Have a good summer everyone.