The Department is pleased to be able to report that, in spire of severe budget constraints suffered by the University last year, it was able to continue its instructional program without any significant curtailments. In particular, it was possible to accommodate all students in the classes in which they wanted to enroll, and no courses were canceled except in one or two cases where the enrollment was insufficient to justify offering the course.
On June 17, 1995, we had a reception and buffet dinner for our bachelor degree recipients, continuing the tradition set by the first such event organized by Allyson Angus (now Stewart) and her parents at the time of her graduation in 1987. Following the model established by her, these events are now organized by our Department and Pi Mu Epsilon under the direction of Professor Evelyn Silvia. This event has become very popular with our graduating seniors and their families, each June setting a new record for attendance. Since our Chair, Professor Craig Tracy, was out of town on that day, I had the privilege of welcoming all those in attendance on behalf of the Department and to congratulate the seniors on their achievement. Professor Motohico Mulase, who became Vice Chair for Undergraduate Affairs of the Department on July 1, 1995, was Master of Ceremonies for the event. It has also become a tradition to have a graduating senior speak at this event. This year it was Nancy Heinschel, President of both the Math Club and Pi Mu Epsilon. She was introduced by Professor Abigail Thompson, Faculty Advisor to Pi Mu Epsilon.
A luncheon for graduate students who received their degrees last year was held on June 9, 1995, in the Commons Room of the Department under the direction of Professor Joel Hass, Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs, and Professor Arthur Krener, Chair of the Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics.
As usual, on Picnic Day, Pi Mu Epsilon offered a luncheon for all students, faculty, and alumni. Be sure to come to this luncheon at next year's Picnic Day.
The Department suffered grievous losses when Professor Hubert A. Arnold died on October 20, 1994, at the age of 82 and Professor Curtis M. Fulton died on August 29, 1995, at the age of 85. Professor Arnold joined the Department in 1948 and remained until his retirement in 1980. His research interests were differentials in abstract spaces and the topological structure of limit sets. He taught a great variety of classes and was known for his statistics classes and vocal support for greater public awareness of the pitfalls of faulty statistical data.
Professor Fulton joined the Department in 1947 and remained until his retirement in 1978. His research interests were various areas of geometry. He taught a great variety of courses in mathematics and statistics, in particular, the upper division differential geometry and graduate course in Riemannian geometry.
Last year was the first in some time in which no faculty retired. The Department was pleased to have been able to start hiring new tenure-track faculty to replace the many who have retired in the last few years. Two such appointments were made, effective July 1, 1995. Three of the recent retirees have agreed to be recalled to teach during the current academic year, namely, Professors Doyle Cutler, Kurt Kreith, and myself.
The new academic year brought only one change in the administration of our Department, namely Professor Motohico Mulase succeeded Professor Thomas Sallee as Vice Chair for Undergraduate Affairs.
To keep our list of addresses and information on you up-to-date and to receive needed input from you, we would greatly appreciate your returning the form on the last page of this Newsletter if you have changed your position and/or address.
We hope you find this Newsletter as valuable as you did the first two issues judging from your many enthusiastic comments. "I sure appreciate the newsletter, and the updated information" was a typical comment. Other versions were "Keep up the great work! The newsletter is a neat idea. It's important for me to keep in touch with the math dept.!" or "Great idea!" or "Glad to see the Dept. keep in touch with alumni." We are greatly encouraged by these comments and will strive to continue to make this Newsletter as appealing to you as possible.
Perhaps not all of you know that the various prizes the Department awards, such as the William Karl Schwarze Scholarships, the Robert Lewis Wasser Prizes, the prizes for the winners of the Undergraduate Mathematics Contest all come from contributions made by alumni of our Department. None of these would be awarded without the contributions (or bequests) made by you, our alumni.
We want you to know that we value the contributions highly. They allow us to enrich our program by features for which the University does not provide support. If you feel so inclined, don't hesitate to send in contributions in any amount. We welcome them greatly. Checks should be made out to the Regents of the University of California, and sent to the Department of Mathematics.
Wendy Behrend
Debra Brunnabend
Joseph Cerreta
Valerie Chan
Samuels Y. Chan
Elizabeth Chovick
James Dukes
Elizabeth Faanes
John Gard
David Goldman
Daniel Heath
Karen Karacsony
Catherine Keeler
James Keeler
Michelle Kendall
Lisa Kim
Carl Linvill
Scott Macy
Michael Molina
Song-Thuy Nguyen
Thien Pask
Dean Pietromonaco
Lance Purdy
Thomas Ransdell
Sharon Rigley
Victoria Sparks
Mei-Chuan Su
Paul Tieslau
Elizabeth Tsao
Deborah Van Tighem
Eric Vikingstad
Shauna Weed
Stephanie West
Kenya Yamaoka
Turner Yu