Professor V. Frederick Rickey
Professor Rickey joined the Department of Mathematical Sciences at USMA in the summer of 1998 after thirty years of teaching in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Bowling Green State University (in Wood County, Ohio, which has a West Point connection) where he is Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus. At West Point his office is 251 Thayer Hall and his phone is 845-938-4010. It is easiest to reach him by email: fred-rickey@usma.edu. At West Point, Professor Rickey has taught the four core courses that every cadet takes: Discrete Dynamical Systems (MA103), Calculus (MA104), Multivariable Calculus (MA205) and Probability and Statistics (MA206) as well as an upper level sequence of courses in Mathematical Analysis. In the Spring of 2010 he is teaching Analysis I (MA 387) during the C and E hours. Consequently, he is usually in his office at other times on 10days (but he could be hard to find on 2-days). It is best, while in class, to arrange a time to meet with me. In the fall of 2009 he taught Foundations of Mathematics, MA 383.
Brief Biography
V. Frederick Rickey, a logician turned historian, earned three degrees from the University of Notre Dame (Ph.D. 1968) and then went to Bowling Green State University where he rose through the professorial ranks to become Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus. He has broad interests in the history of mathematics and is especially interested in the development of the calculus.
He has been on leave six times, most recently during the 2007-2008 Academic Year when he was doing research for a book on the history of the Mathematics Department at West Point. His previous leave was spent in Washington D. C. where he was Visiting Mathematician at the MAA Headquarters. While there he was involved in the founding of Math Horizons, a magazine for mathematics undergraduates; became the first editor of electronic services for the MAA and built its first gopher and web pages (both long departed); and wrote a successful NSF proposal for an Institute for the History of Mathematics and Its Use in Teaching.
He loves teaching and enjoys giving lectures to mathematicians about the history of their field. He received the first award from the Ohio Section for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics, and one of the first MAA National Awards for teaching.
Awards and decorations:
Research Interests: The History of Mathematics
Rickey is interested in the history of mathematics, especially the history of the calculus. He is especially interested in finding ways to use history in the classroom to inspire and motivate students. He is also interested in the history of mathematics at West Point.
Memberships
Mathematical Association of America
HOM(S),
the MAA Special Interest Group on the History of Mathematics.
American Mathematical Society
Association for Women in Mathematics
History and Pedagogy of Mathematics
and to its Americas Section
British Society for the History of Mathematics
Canadian Society for the
History and Philosophy of Mathematics
V. Frederick Rickey
Department of Mathematical Sciences
United States
Military Academy
West Point, NY 10996-1786
Phone: 845-938-4010
Office: 251 Thayer Hall
email: fred-rickey@usma.edu
Return to USMA home page, D/Math home page, or the Math Faculty page.
Updated August 2009