Mathematics Department Records, 1933-1994

Predominant Dates: 1933-1981

The Mathematics Department Records document the teaching and research activities of the department and the involvement of Department Chair, W.E. Milne, in campus organizations. The records include correspondence, reports, lecture notes, and publications. Mathematics courses have been taught at Oregon State since its founding in 1868; however, research and graduate instruction in mathematics began in 1932 with establishment of the School of Science, which included the Mathematics Department.

Creators

ID: RG 136

Extent: 0.75 cubic feet

More Extent Information

Scope and Content Notes

Biographical / Historical Notes

Mathematics was one of the four subjects taught at Corvallis College when it was founded in 1868. As the College’s curriculum grew to include agriculture and engineering, mathematics expanded from its role as an element of traditional higher learning into a necessary tool for understanding science and technology. While the subject matter itself changed little, the focus of mathematics was now targeted to serve engineering. This remained its function until 1932 when the School of Science was established and William E. Milne arrived as chair of the Mathematics Department, a position he held until his retirement in 1955.

Professor Milne was the first Department chairman to hold a Ph.D. During the years that Milne was chair, 1932-1955, the department had its first major growth including additional staff, courses, and students as well as offering undergraduate and gradaute degrees in mathematics.

After 1932, the Mathematics Department's instructional service reached into nearly every academic discipline at Oregon State. The department's research focus during these years emphasized applied analysis and statistics. In 1955, a separate Statistics Department was formed and Arvid T. Lonseth became Mathematics Department chairman. Under Lonseth’s leadership, the department focused heavily on computers, which continued until a separate Computer Science Department was formed in 1972. In 1957, Oregon State College became the first educational institution in Oregon to acquire an electronic computer; it was operated by Mathematics and maintained by Electrical Engineering. By the end of Lonseth’s tenure the department had acquired expertise in all major areas of mathematics.

As the department expanded, Mathematics became a primary area of study. This lead to an undergraduate major designed to train high school teachers as well as prepare students for graduate level studies. The first masters degree in mathematics was awarded in 1933 and the first doctorate in 1948.

Department heads for the period documented by these records include W.E. (Ted) Milne (1932-1955); Arvid T. Lonseth (1955-1968); William J. Firey (1968-1970 and 1978-1979); James R. Brown (1970-1978); Richard M. Schori (1979-1984); Philip M. Anselone (1984-1990); and Francis (Frank) Flaherty (1990-1998).

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Arrangement

Preferred Citation: Mathematics Department Records (RG 136), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred to the Archives from the 1960s through 2005.

Acquired: Additions to the collection are expected.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

Container List

Series 1: William Edmund Milne General Correspondence, 1933-1939 Add to Shelf

Series 1 consists of correspondence and related materials created and received by Milne in his role as chair of the Mathematics Department and as a member of several campus faculty groups and honor societies. Of particular note are materials pertaining to the mathematics graduate programs and a computation service offered by the department. The microfilm does not include targets separating original folders. Some of the original paper documents are part of Series 2.

Reel-Item 1.1: Century Club, 1936 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.2: Engineers Club, 1935-1937 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.3: Faculty Men's Club, 1933-1939 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.4: Graduate School Material and Graduate Studies, 1935-1939 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.5: Computation Service, 1938-1939 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.6: Miscellaneous material for NYA and Paper Readers, 1935-1939 Add to Shelf

Students employed as graders.

Reel-Item 1.7: Order of the Spoon, 1935-1936 Add to Shelf

A faculty advancement organization.

Reel-Item 1.8: Phi Kappa Phi, 1937-1939 Add to Shelf

Reel-Item 1.9: Pi Mu Epsilon, 1933-1939 Add to Shelf

Sub-Series 10: Mathematical Problems and Inquiries, 1934-1939 Add to Shelf

Includes correspondence from high school teachers, faculty at other colleges and universities, prospective students, and the public.

Reel-Item 1.10: Reports, 1935 Add to Shelf
Reel-Item 1.11: Sigma Xi, 1936-1938 Add to Shelf
Reel-Item 1.12: Summer Session material, 1935 Add to Shelf
Reel-Item 1.13: Triad Club, 1936-1939 Add to Shelf

Series 2: Subject Files, 1933-1981 Add to Shelf

Series 2 consists of correspondence, reports, and instructional materials documenting the teaching and research activities of the department. The reports provide information about early computers at Oregon State. The information pamphlet for undergraduate mathematics major includes detailed information about degree requirements and courses as well as scholarships and employment opportunities in mathematics. The series also includes original paper records of the some of the microfilmed Milne correspondence in Series 1.

Box-Folder 1.1 Add to Shelf

Sub-Series 1: William Edmund Milne General Correspondence, 1933-1939 Add to Shelf

Original paper copies of some of the microfilmed records in Series 1.

Item 1: Faculty Men's Club, 1933-1939 Add to Shelf
Item 2: Graduate School Material and Graduate Studies, 1935-1939 Add to Shelf
Item 3: Computation Service, 1938-1939 Add to Shelf
Item 4: National Youth Administration (NYA) and readers, 1935-1939 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 1.2 Add to Shelf

Sub-Series 1: Reports, 1959-1964 Add to Shelf

Item 1: Machine Modifications, 1959 Add to Shelf: Modifications performed on the ALWAC III-E digital computer in the Oregon State College Computing Center; written by George A. Dubinski.
Item 2: Progress Report of the Nebula Computer, 1964 Add to Shelf: By J.A. Boles, P.T. Rux, and F.W. Weingarten.

Box-Folder 1.3: Solutions Manual for Applied Differential Equations, 1981 Add to Shelf

Manual written by M.N.L. Narasimhan to be used by students and instructors in MTH 321 with the second edition of the textbook Differential Equations and their Applications: An Introduction to Applied Mathematics by M. Braun.

Box-Folder 1.4: Information Pamphlet for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors in 1963-1964, 1963 Add to Shelf

Provides information of use to undergraduate students in mathematics; topics include curriculum, courses, and degree requirements; opportunities for employment or graduate study; the Honors Program; grants, honors, awards, scholarships, and fellowships; competitions; organizations and periodicals; and recommended reading.

Series 3: Lecture Notes, 1974-1975 Add to Shelf

Series 3 consists of 5 bound volumes of lecture notes prepared by Bent E. Peterson and Aldo Andreotti for mathematics courses taught during the 1974-1975 academic year.

Box-Item 1.1: Singularities of Differentiable Maps, undated Add to Shelf
Box-Item 2.1: Cauchy Problem and Convexity, Winter, 1975 Add to Shelf: For MTH 528.
Box-Item 2.2: Elliptic Operators, Spring, 1975 Add to Shelf: By Bent E. Petersen for MTH 529.
Box-Item 2.3: Holomorphic Functions with Bounds, Summer, 1974 Add to Shelf: By Bent E. Petersen.
Box-Item 2.4: Partial Differential Equations, 1974-1975 Add to Shelf: By Bent E. Petersen for MTH 527, 528, and 529.

Series 4: Publications, 1963-1994 Add to Shelf

Series 4 consists of department publications for internal and external audiences and includes the weekly staff newsletter for 1985-1986; the annual department newsletter for alumni, retired faculty, and friends of the department; a brochure promoting the undergraduate and graduate programs in actuarial science offered by the Mathematics Department; and a compilation of research papers prepared by high school students as part of their participation in the Summer Institute in Mathematics at Oregon State University in 1962, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Box-Folder 3.1: Mathematics Department Staff Newsletter, 1985-1986 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.2 Add to Shelf

Item 1: Mathematician, 1991-1994 Add to Shelf
Item 2: Brochure on Acturial Science, 1991 Add to Shelf

Box-Folder 3.3: 1963 Add to Shelf

Papers written by participants in Summer Institute in Mathematics for high school students; edited by R.E. Gaskell, Director of the Institute.

People, Places, and Topics

Related Materials

Triad Club in front of Hotel Corvallis, 1940. William E. Milne stands back row, third from right. Milne was the chair of the Mathematics Department from 1932 to 1955.

Information and Credits