Department History
A Brief Department HistoryMuch of the information regarding the
history of the department comes from a paper by Carl Albert Grimm, a former
faculty member. The following is a brief outline of
the major highlights from materials on hand. We hope the time will come when we can provide a more detailed record.
Mathematics was a necessary subject at the inception of
the School of Mines in 1885, but the first record of a mathematics
professor was Virgil H. Lewis, professor of mathematics and mechanics, in 1887. The record is not clear exactly when a department
involving mathematics was formed, but there is a record of a Department
of Mathematics and Physics in 1901, the two disciplines separating shortly after
that date in 1903. Howard
Lincoln McLaury, the first department head of mathematics, was a
powerful force in establishing the rigorous coursework that has been the
tradition at the School of Mines ever since.
In 1921 the
mathematics department moved into a new building on campus along with
the Departments of Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Physics. This new location was later renamed the
McLaury Building, after the death of McLaury in 1952, and serves as the
home of the department to this day.
In 1922, the university hired a
recent Mines graduate from electrical engineering to teach mathematics
as an instructor. This rather temporary start for Guy E. March
eventually led to him becoming the second department head of mathematics in
1941. Born in 1895 in a mining camp near Hill City, March had deep roots in South Dakota, spending a very long
career at the School of Mines. The Alumni Association existed several years before March arrived on campus, but the association
was never very active during his time as a student. In 1934, March
called a meeting of the Alumni Association and afterward, through his leadership, the association became the active
organization it is today. Shortly after that 1934 meeting, the association produced their first issue of the The Hardrock, a
publication communicating school events and alumni news.
The bachelor's degree in mathematics was first authorized in 1957; and the master's degree in mathematics was established shortly thereafter in
1959. The master's program was discontinued in 1985 with the last degree awarded to Donna Johnson (who later
became a member of the departmental faculty). The master's in computer science program began as a continuation of the graduate education
program, with the first master's degree in CS awarded
by the School of Mines in 1984. The bachelor's degree in computer science was approved in 1978, and graduates quickly followed.
The computer science program culminated from the efforts of a rather
revolutionary bunch to join the department in the late 1960s: Harold
Carda, Roger Opp, David Ballew, Ronald Weger, and Dale Rognlie. The
establishment of programming classes, and later a computer science
curriculum, required these young faculty members, with degrees in
mathematics, to learn the computer science discipline on their own and
establish coursework, in some cases before there was even a textbook
available.
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
continues to be a prominent member of the School of Mines and is
deeply rooted in the educational role of the university, teaching a
variety of courses required by all majors on campus. In
addition, the department plays an active role in research projects on campus, many of which have been nationally recognized. The brief highlights above
illuminate the strong, traditional role the department plays for the
university, but also point to the department's evolution and adaptation to the changing needs of the campus and industry. We think more
highlights are yet to come as the technical needs of society continue
to change.