This incomplete collection is composed of historical materials donated by the CMU Department of Mathematics in 2024 and department materials previously housed in the CMU Vertical Files collection. The collection includes departmental and assessment committee meeting minutes, correspondence, including some with CMU President Charles L. Anspach, brochures, fliers, posters, publications, including New Letters with a note from CMU President Eugene C. Warriner, clippings, and photographic materials documenting staff, students, Richtmeyer Mathematics Award winners and runners up, mathematics conferences, and staff and students events held at CMU. The collection is organized alphabetically and chronologically and is in good physical condition.
Researchers may be interested in the papers of CMU Mathematics professors Cleon C. Richtmeyer, Richard J. Fleming, which are also housed in the Clarke Historical Library. Richtmeyer (died 1975) began as a CMU mathematics professor in 1924 and became Acting Head of the department in 1933. In 1960 he created a departmental History, a series of News Letters [sic], which includes a note from CMU President Eugene C. Warriner, which are housed in this collection. In 1947 he became Director of Instruction, a position he held until 1956 when he became Dean of Faculty. In 1959 Richtmeyer became the inaugural dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in 1959, serving until he retired during the 1968/1967 academic year. Fleming was hired as professor and department Chair in 1982, serving until he retired in August 1997. A mathematics lecture series was started and named in his honor. James K. Bidwell (1934-) was hired as a professor of mathematics at CMU in 1966. By 1973 he was full professor. Bidwell researched Mathematics in Michigan Colleges and wrote a history of the department, 1892-1992, which is separately cataloged. He retired from CMU in 1997.
Processing Note: 1.25 cubic feet of the collection was withdrawn during processing, mostly duplicates and inaccessible storage media, such as floppy and hard discs, cassettes, and zip drives. Acidic correspondence was photocopied and the copies were retained in the collection. A few CMU college-level fliers were added to the CMU Vertical Files and two issues of two serials were cataloged.
Organizational History:
The Central Michigan University (CMU) Department of Mathematics has existed at least since 1898. At that time, CMU’s student body was composed of future teachers, so CMU offered mathematic courses useful to them including Arithmetic, Rural School; Arithmetic, Teachers’ Course; Algebra I and II, and Plane and Solid Geometry courses, all taught by William Bellis, Pd. B. The goals of the courses in mathematics were: 1) to give the students a good working knowledge of the subjects taught; 2) to develop and train them to reason accurately and consecutively; 3) to develop teaching ability; 4) to discuss the best methods of presenting the various subjects; and 5) to trace briefly the historical development of arithmetic, algebra and geometry. (This information is from the CMU Bulletins, 1898 and Annual Catalogue of the Central State Normal School.) In 1959 the department was part of the School of Arts and Sciences. In 2000 the department was part of the College of Science and Technology. (This information is from the collection. In 2024 the department is part of the College of Science and Engineering, offering graduate programs, certificates, internships, scholarships, colloquia and seminars, has student organizations, and a Mathematics Assistance Center. Mathematics students may live at the Science and Engineering Residential College. (This information is from the Mathematics website, July 2024.)
