MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT CHAIRS: 1873 - 1986

University Hall, the first home of the Department of Mathematics, as it looked in 1882.

Early in 1870, before the newly formed Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College opened its doors, Joseph Sullivant, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, proposed a plan of organization which included nine departments. One of these was to be the Department of Physics, Mechanics, and Mathematics. At its meeting on October 10, 1872, the Board of Trustees revised Sullivant's plan. They made Physics and Mechanics one department and created a second department which included Mathematics and Civil Engineering.

As the college opened in 1873, Robert White McFarland was hired from Miami University to serve as the first Chair and Professor of Mathematics and Civil Engineering. In those early days, McFarland not only taught all the courses in mathematics and civil engineering, but also served as Bursar, Superintendent of the Campus, State Inspector of Railways, and, because he had experience in the Civil War, taught military tactics and conducted cadet drill. At President Orton's request he computed the earth's orbit and the closest distance of the earth to the sun for a period of five and one half million years (clearly without benefit of computers).

McFarland resigned his position in 1885 to accept the presidency of Miami University in Oxford. He was succeeded by Professor George Comstock of the Washburne Observatory in Madison, Wisconsin.

By 1885 the Department of Mathematics and Civil Engineering had increased in size to one full professor and three part-time assistants, one of whom was Commandant of Cadets. Since the department was teaching 500 students and 18 courses it was felt to be too large. Civil Engineering was made a separate department in the College of Engineering. Mathematics, originally part of the School of Science, became a department in the College of Engineering in 1895. It remained as a department there until 1929 when it was moved to the College of Arts and Sciences.

To replace Comstock, who in 1887 left to become Director of Washburne Observatory, Professor Rosser D. Bohannan of the University of Virginia was hired. Bohannan served as chairman of the department until March, 1926, a period of thirty-nine years. This was a period of steady growth and development, with only the war years breaking the continuity of the department's expansion.

Professor Harry W. Kuhn, a graduate of Ohio State and member of the Department of Mathematics since 1901, succeeded Bohannan as chairman. He earned his doctorate at Cornell University and was a charter member and founder of the American Mathematical Society. In the early 1930's, the department awarded its first Ph.D. degrees. After leading the department through the depression years and the early part of the Second World War, Kuhn retired in 1943.

Dr. John L. Synge, a noted Canadian mathematician and scholar, assumed the chairmanship in 1943 after having served thirteen years as head of the department at the University of Ontario. He resigned in 1946 and Professor Tibor Rado assumed the position. Dr. Rado had joined the department in 1930 after spending time at Harvard University and Rice Institute. Rado was regarded a a scientist of international stature. His contributions to the development of mathematics include work in the areas of calculus of variation, conformal mapping, minimal surfaces, complex functions, area theory, Riemann surfaces, and plateau problems. He served as department chairman for three years and then was appointed Ohio State's first University Research Professor. During the last decade of his life he made fundamental contributions to the development of computers.

For the first six months of 1949, Professor Paul V. Reichelderfer served as acting chairman of the department. In June, 1949, Professor Robert G. Helsel was appointed as acting chairman and in September, 1950, the appointment was made permanent. By this time the department had grown to nineteen professors and forty-four instructors and assistants teaching sixty undergraduate and forty graduate courses to the tens-of-thousands of students who had flooded the campus following the end of World War II. Dr. Helsel, who had been in the department as student and teacher since 1939, served as chairman until he retired in 1962. During the final months of his tenure, the department moved its offices from University Hall, where it had been housed ever since its beginning in 1873, to the new Mathematics Building at 231 West Eighteenth Avenue.

The Mathematics Building just prior to its opening in August, 1962.

From the summer of 1962 until the autumn of 1963, Professor D. Ransom Whitney served as acting chairman of the department. In the early 1970's, Whitney served as chairman of the newly established Department of Statistics.

Professor Arnold E. Ross assumed the chairmanship in 1963. He came to Ohio State after having headed the Department of Mathematics at The University of Notre Dame for seventeen years. Under Dr. Ross, the department again had a period of rapid expansion to meet the demands brought about by the post. war population increase and the added emphasis on scientific and technological education. In 1968,as part of an overall reorganization of the University, a separate College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences was created consisting of the departments of Astronomy, Chemistry, Geodetic Science, Geology, Mathematics, and Physics. Statistics, long a part of the Department of Mathematics, became a separate department within the College in 1970.

Professor Joseph Landin became chairman of the department January 1, 1975. He had previously served as head of the department at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. During his tenure much work was done on curriculum revision and attempts to deal with the large number of students coming to the university seriously underprepared in mathematics. He left the department in July, 1978 to assume the chairmanship at the University of Connecticut.

Joan Leitzel served as acting chair of the department from July, 1978 until January 1, 1979 when Dijen Ray-Chaudhuri assumed that position.

Under Ray-Chaudhuri's leadership the department continued to build its research strength and several areas moved to prominence. The department also made strides in turning around the declining performance of incoming freshmen through wide ranging articulation efforts and the institution of the Early Mathematics Placement Testing Program.

Alan C. Woods became chairman of the department July 1, 1982 when Ray-Chaudhuri returned to teaching and research. During these recent years, attention of the department has been directed to the critical shortage of individuals trained in the mathematical sciences. Recruitment of graduate students has increased, but it is difficult because of the decline in the number of undergraduate majors. Approximately 50% of the graduate students currently studying in the department of mathematics are international students.

Joseph C. Ferrar will assume the duties of chairman on July 1, 1986 as Professor Woods returns to teaching and research. At this point in history, the department consists of 94 fulltime regular faculty and instructors, and over 240 part-time lecturers and graduate students. In a typical Autumn Quarter, the department teaches 16,000 students in a multitude of course offerings. The department has long outgrown its building and space is at a premium. The legislature has approved the construction of a building to ease the current cramped conditions. It is expected to be ready for occupancy by Autumn, 1989.

The department was well represented at the joint Winter Meetings in New Orleans in January and we enjoyed meeting many of our friends at the wine and cheese reception provided by the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences in honor of Arnold Ross. He was selected as this year's recepient of the Distinguished Service Award by the MAA for his twenty-seven years as Director of the Summer Science Training Program. We were also pleased when Nicholas Ercolani received a Sloan Fellowship. This marks the fourth consecutive year that a faculty member of the department has been selected. Further distinction went to Harvey Friedman when a book, Harvey Friedman's Research on the Foundation of Mathematics, was published and he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. We will also be represented at the 1CM this summer. Ernst Ruh has been invited to give a 45 minute talk in the section on geometry.

Recruitment for the year is virtually completed. Guido Mislin, an algebraic topologist closely associated with the department, was hired on a 2/3 basis, staying at ETH for the remainder of the year. Vitaly Bergelson, a research instructor working in probability, was appointed as an assistant professor. We were successful this year in recruiting applied mathematicians. Presently, we have three acceptances, David Terman in mechanics, George Majda in numerical analysis, and Edward Overman in scientific computation. The chair in scientific computation remains unfilled, although we have interviewed candidates from as far away as New Zealand to the west and Germany to the east.

Recruitment of graduate students is proceeding well, but the declining interest of domesti( students is a major source of concern. Joe Ferrar, as chair of Graduate Recruitment, and Harry Allen, as chair of the Graduate Studies Committee, have both worked very hard at attracting the best students. As a result, I am confident the quality of our incoming students next year will be outstanding.

Our Honors Program continues to flourish and expand. Alayne Parson, as chair of the Honors Committee, has given dedicated service both in her role of advising students and in her capacity for extracting funds from the College for undergraduate scholarships and prizes.

There are several moves afoot to strengthen the program for school teachers. The state has raised the requirements for middle school teachers in mathematics and the sciences. Independently, the University is considering a proposal that would abolish undergraduate degrees in education. I expect these changes in policy to have a significant impact in the lower level mathematics offerings of the department in future years.

As you may know, the department has been acutely short of space for many years. At last relief is in sight. Funds have been appropriated by the legislature to build an addition to accommodate the needs of the department. We are assured the new space will be operational in three years time. I am thinking four years is more realistic.

My term as chairman will be complete this July 1, when Joe Ferrar will assume the position. This then is the last letter I will be writing to you as chairman. I would therefore like to say I have enjoyed these four years immensely. There have been major headaches naturally, but taken altogether, it has been exciting to participate with the department in its most serious efforts to achieve excellence. I wish Joe Ferrar all the best during the next four years. I cannot end without expressing my appreciation to Jim Leitzel, who brought this Newsletter into existence and who continues with the greatest diligence to ensure its timely publication. All best wishes!

Alan Woods Chairman

Departmental News

Pamela Coxson, visiting the department this year, was cocoordinator and a presenter for the Kovalevskaia Symposium held at Harvard University last October. The symposium included a special session for teachers and women students from Boston area high schools including talks in applied mathematics and career opportunities in mathematics. It was jointly sponsored by the Associatio for Women in Mathematics and th Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute.

Nicholas Ercolani has been named a 1986 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. Ercolani is currently visiting the University of Arizona working in applied mathematics. He will use the Sloan award to continue his research work.

Ernst Ruh has been invited to give a 45 minute address at the International Congress of Mathematicians to be held at the University of California, Berkely, August 3-11, 1986. His talk, "Almost Lie Groups", will discuss how these structures serve to compare general manifolds to standard spaces.

Neil Robertson has recently returned from a sabbatical year spent at Rutgers University, Bell Communicafions Research, and the Royal Holloway College of the University of London. The time was producfive in that Robertson completed several research papers and attended conferences on combinatorial topics in Sonderberg Denmark; Glasgow, Scotland; and Arcadia, California.

Hans Zassenhaus received an Honorary Doctor of Natural Sciences degree from the Universit of Saarland, Saarbrucken, Germany in November, 1985. In the laudation, Zassenhaus was commended for his impressive representations of the spherepacking problem and his classical book on group theory.

Shimshon Zimering was selected by the Student Council of the College of the Arts and Sciences for an award in recognition of his teaching. Ten such awards are made each year from nominations made by undergraduate students.

Letters to Share

William C. Ramaley, B.Sc. '61, Ph.D. from University of Colorado, is currently Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado. He wrote sharing some anecdotes of his time at Ohio State. Because of space limitations his letter is slightly abridged.

Dear James Leitzel--

It was a pleasure to get your news letter about the Department. I have many fond memories of OSU and the faculty. Your offer to let me tell you an anecdote or two is simply irresistible. After all, I've been telling them for yeam to people who do not even know OSU (or think its Oklahoma or Oregon State -- poor souls).

Arno Cronheim -- I had him for the course in Modern Algebra. He was a charming, smooth shaved man, inclined to look somewhat like a friar who had just cleaned up. I hope he is still in good health and active in the dept -- if so give him my best wishes, for he, as much as anyone, caused me to do math. He had come into class the first day, again with his English still being improved upon, and told us to read the first three chapters of Birkhoff and MacLane and do all the problems -- for Friday--of that week.

I was lust starting my junior year and I had no idea of what a reasonable assignment was for an upper division class. So I got out of class and got to work. Now, there are 88 pages in those first three chapters and lots and lots of problems -- maybe several hundred. My Cod. Well, I'd wanted to be a Math Major, no one had forced me into it. So I got to work. For four days I did my best, but it was hopeless. By class time on Friday I had only slightly over half of the problems done (and in retrospect I suppose I had a lot of wrong answers there). Rather fearful, I went to class, there to find out that he had not meant the first three chapters, but the first three sections of the first chapter. A wonderful relief swept over me. For the next four weeks, I was able to sit in class and truly understand what he was talking about, for I had already thought quite hard about those ideas.

Have you heard the story of Henry L. Mann at the Ohio sectional meeting in Cincinnati? That is the one where he was driving down a street and the others in the car tried to convince him that it was a oneway street. He was not easily convinced, even arguing that they must be wrong because "see -- there are some cars coming the other way, toward us," I was not along on that trip and cannot vouch for the authenticity of the story -- but I suspect it is true (and thought so at the time, back in 1960).

After Ohio I went to grad work at University of Colorado, working in Quadratic Forms with Burton Jones.

After my Ph.D. I taught at Carleton and Colorado College for several years before settling down here at Ft. Lewis, where I am the chair of the Department (Math and CS), with 16 faculty. We have over a hundred majors in a liberal arts college of 3600 (the only public liberal arts college in Colorado) and are in a lovely setting. It's my loss that I have not returned to Ohio since a visit in 1962.1 am overdue for a visit - -until then I am.

It is really gratifying to hear from alumni. If you have not yet taken the time to bring us up to date on your current activities, please do so now. Use the response form in th issue and send us your news.

Robert D. Campbell, M.Sc. '77, currently chairman, Division of Mathematics, Science and Technology, South Campus Manatee Community College, Venice, Florida.

Chapman Gleason, M.Sc., '72, currently senior statistician, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. He does data base design and develops statistical mod to investigate charges of race/sex discrimination in employment practice.

Mark Hovey, B.Sc. '84, currently a graduate student at MIT, having just completed his oral exams. In addition to acquiring a fiancee, Karen Collins, who is studying combinatorics, deciding to do work in rational homotopy theory, and visiting at Cal Tech, he has become quite adept at juggling.

John E. Howland, M.Sc. '65, Ph.D. 70 (University of Oklahoma), currently a professor of computer science at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.

John R. Josephson, B.Sc. '68, M.Sc. '70, Ph. D. '82 (Philosophy), currently Assistant Director, I,aboratory for Artificial Intelligence Research at Ohio State.

Andrew J. Lingler, M.Sc. '73, currently chairman of the mathematics departmen at Lorain Catholic High School and part-time instructor at Lorain County Community College.

J. David Logan, B.Sc. '66, M.Sc. '68, P h.D '70, currently chairman and professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Nebraska. He has written numerous papers in nonlinear partial differential equations and symmetry methods in the calculus of variations.

Joseph P. Martino, Ph.D. '61, currently Senior Research Scientist at the University of Dayton Research Institute. A second edition of his textbook, Technological Forecasting for Decision Making was recently published. Joseph Meeks, B.Sc. '63, M.Sc. '65, Ph.D. '69, currently an associate professor of mathematics at Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden, New York

David L. Outcalt, Ph.D. '63, formerly Professor of Mathematics and Dean of Instructional Development at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and, since 1981, Chancellor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Larry Rosenblum, M.Sc. '66, Ph.D. '71, currently a computer specialist with the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. Tasks include applications of computer science to oceanography, but interests range through computer graphics. digital imaging, and real-time systems. He has recently received the Alan Berman Research Publication Award for 1985.

Craig A. Schimming, M.Sc. '73, formerly a mathematics teacher at Clyde High School and currently a systems programmer for Owens Corning Fiberglas in Toledo, Ohio.

Paul M. Young, M.A. '39, Ph.D. '41, currently Professor and Vice President Emeritus, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.

Computers in the Department

(David Goss, chairman of the department's computer committee, has prepared this article sharing information on computer access in the department.)

Everyone is aware of the tremendous advances that have taken place in the field of computers over the past few years. With the emergence of the silicon chip, computers have changed in ways that nobody had predicted. Computing power previously costing millions of dollars, now costs around a thousand dollars; and the situation continues to improve dramatically. One rule of thumb is that computing power will continue to double every two years.

Along with these advances in "hardware," there have been many innovative advances in "software" (the programs which tell the computer what to do). The result is that mathematicians, as well as others in the academic professions, are changing their views on what they consider to be the tools of the trade. Whereas mathematicians were typically expected to need only pencil and paper (and, perhaps, a good cup of coffee), now many feel a personal computer is also essential. This change, like the change in computing, will become more pronounced as time goes on. Computing has always played a role in mathematics. When mathematicians try to understand a new phenomenon, they usually begin by computing many examples. With the advent of electronic computing machines, examples were computed that could never have been attempted by hand. Moreover, some branches of mathematics arose because it was found that certain subjects, such as the differential equations associated with weather forecasting, could Only be studied computationally. Still, in the early days of computing, it was a very difficult process to use a computer, and even then there were many problems that the machines were not fast enough to handle. All of that has changed and the allure of using computers to develop examples has become almost irresistible.

One of the early programs written for computers was "Expensive Typewriter." This program was an early prototype of the programs now used extensively for wordprocessing. It was aptly named. Indeed, when a machine costs millions of dollars, wordprocessing is clearly a waste of machine time. Now, however, not using wordprocessing is a waste. With the new laser-printers, the finished product looks like it has already been professionally typeset. Mathematicians have come to love the total control computers (especially personal computers) allow them over the typing of papers, letters, tests, and other materials.

The Department of Mathematics has responded to this new situation in a number of different ways. Secretaries have had wordprocessing equipment for several years. This has had great impact in preparing research papers and materials for our large enrollment courses.

Computer design by Ranko Bojanic

In conjunction with our "Eminent Scholar" grant, the mathematics and statistics departments have purchased a Pyramid supermini computer. This machine allows users to create very long programs and has the ability to run programs for long periods of time. It is also used for electronic mail and as a "front-end" machine to the massive number crunching supercomputers. A number of faculty members already have terminals to the Pyramid in their offices.

Recently, the department has purchased 19 Macintosh personal computers together with printers. Three of these are used by the department's administrative staff and one is linked to a laser-printer. The remaining machines will be placed in faculty offices. There, among other tasks, they will be used for wordprocessing, preparing class instructional materials, and as terminals connected to the Pyramid. It is hoped that eventually all faculty will have machines of that type in their offices.

At this point in time, the situation is quite fluid and the process of computerization is just beginning. Although the computers of today are of great use for mathematics, no machine yet produced, at a reasonable price, does everything a mathematician could want. But the prospects for such a machine are very good. Indeed, a number of companies, such as I.B.M. and Next Inc. (founded by Steven Jobs of Apple fame), are hard at work developing a new generation of "Scholar's Work Stations." Moreover, old machines such as Macintoshes are constantly being enhanced. If the past is any indication, the Department of Mathematics at Ohio State is in store for many future marvels!

Problem Corner

(Material for this column is prepared by Gerry Edgar)

Another chance to try your problem solving skills! Send your solutions to the Editor. The best (or most interesting) solutions will be included in a future issue of Math Matrix. You are encouraged to submit problems for inclusion in this corner Problems with an applied flavor are especially welcome.

Problem 7. For notational convenience, write a^b for exponentiation a^b Consider five 2's:

Solutions to previous problems

The larger one is 1986! Andrew Lingler (M.S. 1973), Lorain Catholic High School, solved the problem with the aid of an Apple II computer. Here is his method. First, 1986!/662¹⁹⁸⁶ = (1/662) (2/662) (3/662)... (1985/662) (1986/662). The factors with numerator from 1 to 661 are less than 1, and those with numerator from 663 to 1986 are greater than l. The BASIC program shown below computes that the product of all of the factors less than 1 and only some of the factors greater than 1 yield a product larger than 1. In fact 1832! / 6621832> 1016, and the ratio 1986!/662¹⁹⁸⁶ is much larger than that. This problem was also solved by Brian Scalley (Mayfield Heights, Ohio). Using Sterling's formula he found that 1986! =~ 2.1 × 10⁵⁶⁸⁹ but 662¹⁹⁸⁶=~1.7 X 10⁵⁶⁰².

Mathematics Competitions

The annual Rasor-Bareis-Gordon Mathematics Competitions for undergraduate students was held on February 22. Cash awards to the winners of these contests come from endowment funds honoring Grace M. Bareis, Kate Deterly Gordon, and S.E. Rasor. The winners of the Rasor division were Michael Doel, Donald Ziegler, Brian Holloway, and Steven Stitt. The Bareis division prizes were given to Eric Ulm, Thomas Boardman, and John Clifford. In the Gordon division, Thomas Barrett, Francis Alexander, Scott Fisher, Oliver King-Smith, Timothy Snyder, and Constance Wiseman received awards. Congratulations to all these young people on their excellent performance. Some special recognitions are due. Thomas Barrett was first prize winner in the Rasor Division in 1984 and a first prize winner in the Bareis Division in 1985. John Clifford and Thomas Boardman were plize winners in the 1985 Rasor Division and Oliver King-Smith and Timothy Snyder were 1985 winners in the Bareis Division.

In December, 1985, six students from the department participated in the 46th Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition administered by the Mathematical Association of America. Thomas Barrett, Thomas Boardman, and Eric Ulm ranked in the top 500 in the country.