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Conclusion

Space considerations do not permit a detailed discussion of the curricular changes which have occurred since the beginning of the Seiken chairmanship. For the most part, such a discussion would reveal that the department, with its influx of active professionals, has kept up with or ahead of its competition. As one example, the course in set theory and abstract systems, Mathematics 99 (formerly Math 18), was created in 1967 - and it was probably the first "introduction to the upperclass curriculum" of its kind in the country. In 1970, with the arrival of Fairchild, the department had the authors of perhaps the only two textbooks in existence suitable for that course (Bick is the other). It remains to the present time the prerequisite for every theoretical upperclass course, and often serves as a primary indicator of success as a mathematics major.

The department has benefitted from a pretty constant supply of excellent students, too many, of course, to mention here by name. As one example, of the four mathematics majors in the class of 1958, all went on to advanced degrees in mathematics, three of them to the Ph.D.. More recently, two must be recalled: James Saxe ('76), who went on to the Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie Mellon; and Cynthia Curtis (now Budka) ('87), who compiled a straight A average at Union, completed her Ph.D. at Yale and is now on the faculty at Princeton. These are clearly exceptional, but the department can boast of many others of rank nearly equal to theirs. Almost every year, two or three graduates are accepted at the foremost graduate schools in the country.

By any reasonable measure - quality and quantity of publication, student evaluations of teaching, participation in or sponsoring of professional conferences, or success of its graduates in the most challenging graduate programs - the Union College Mathematics Department stands, in 1990, in the front rank of mathematics departments at American small colleges.

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Created: 06 Mar 1997
Last modified: 09 Oct 1999 00:00:00
Comments to: math@union.edu