Department of Mathematics Records

Collection

Call Number: UA157

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Scope and Contents

This collection is composed of course information and exams, as well as exam review materials, a textbook, and lists of textbooks.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1996 -- 2005
Creation: 1918 -- 2009

Creator

Department of Mathematics (Organization)
School of Arts and Sciences (Organization)

Language of Materials

English

Access

University records are closed for 20 years from the date of their creation. Records older than 20 years that do not pertain to student education, staff and faculty employment and Board of Trustees records are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Please see “Reproductions and Use” on the Digital Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permission to publish. Copyright to all materials created by Tufts University employees in the course of their work is held by the Trustees of Tufts University.

Biographical / Historical

From the founding of the university, mathematics was a required part of the Tufts student curriculum; originally, freshmen were offered geometry, and sophomores were offered trigonometry, with upper-level electives available to upperclassmen. In 1861, under the Walker Endowment for Mathematics, the position of tutor was created, which was filled by Benjamin Graves Brown. In 1865, this position was expanded and Brown became the first endowed professor of the school, as the Walker Professor of Mathematics. By 1874, the department was a “two-man” team consisting of Brown and S.W. Sutton, the Walker Special Instructor in Mathematics.

Traditionally, the department has only offered degrees in pure mathematics, which is the study of mathematics for the sake of discovery. However in 2011, Arts and Sciences faculty had a unanimous vote to approve a new applied mathematics major to focus on real-world applications and problems, in part due to an increase of professors focusing in this area.