Distinguished Australian Mathematician Joins Faculty
Internationally known mathematician John Stillwell of Australia has joined the USF faculty. Stillwell, who will begin teaching in the spring of 2002, is renowned for his scholarly writings and for his ability to vividly communicate difficult mathematical ideas to students and scholars alike. He is also distinguished for his work on the history of mathematics.
The appointment of Stillwell instantly raises USF’s stature and visibility within the mathematics community, said Tristan Needham, associate dean for sciences. In the longer term, Needham believes that Stillwell’s presence at USF will help to attract increasingly high caliber mathematics faculty and students to the university.
Stillwell first became acquainted with USF a decade ago after Needham wrote the professor a fan letter of sorts. “We started a purely mathematical correspondence, and this went on for several years before he visited the Bay Area and we finally met,” Needham said. “All the time, bringing him here to teach at USF was in the back of my mind.”
Stillwell’s first extended visit to USF occurred during his sabbatical from Monash University in Australia, where he has taught for 30 years. After spending the spring 2000 semester on a fellowship at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he taught at USF during the fall of 2000.
“During that semester, he received glowing reviews both from the students and from several faculty members who attended his lectures,” said Needham. “During his stay, Dean Stanley Nel and I were delighted to be able to persuade him to accept a permanent position on our faculty.”
Stillwell earned a PhD from MIT in 1970, and has served as a visiting scholar at several universities, including MIT and the University Cambridge. Stillwell is a member of the editorial board of the American Mathematical Monthly, one of the world’s preeminent mathematics journals.
He has given invited lectures at mathematics conferences, including the International Congress of Mathematicians, an international conference held only once every four years. Stillwell has translated 11 books from five different languages, and to six of these works he also contributed essays on the mathematical significance of the work being translated. However, Stillwell is best known as the sole author of five books that give a panoramic view of a variety of mathematics.
“These books have justly earned him a reputation as one of the greatest living expositors of mathematics,” Needham said.
Beginning in 2002, Stillwell will teach full time each spring semester.
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