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David Pengelley

David Pengelley

Courtesy Appointment
Department of Mathematics

David Pengelley

Courtesy Appointment
Department of Mathematics

David Pengelley is professor emeritus at New Mexico State University, and courtesy faculty at Oregon State University. His research is in algebraic topology and history of mathematics. For several decades he has also collaborated on NSF-funded programs developing pedagogies and materials for teaching with student projects and with primary historical sources, in both traditional undergraduate courses and specially created honors courses. David dreams and advocates that all students, in all courses, could benefit by learning mathematics from studying primary historical sources. He has coauthored three books, on student projects in calculus and on learning great mathematics from primary sources, and has recently authored a fourth book, for students to learn number theory with an inquiry pedagogy from primary sources, primarily the manuscripts and letters of Sophie Germain, the first woman we know to have done important original mathematical research. David also created a graduate course on the role of history in teaching mathematics. He relies on student reading, writing, and mathematical preparation before class to enable active student work to replace lecture. He loves backpacking and wilderness, is active on environmental issues, and has become a fanatical badminton player.

Education

Ph.D., Mathematics, University of Washington, 1980

Oxford University Mathematical Institute, 1978–79

B.A., Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1973

University of California, Riverside, 1970–71

Publications

  • Number Theory Through the Eyes of Sophie Germain: An Inquiry Course, 202 page book, MAA Press, American Mathematical Society, 2023. https://bookstore.ams.org/view?ProductCode=CLRM/70

Awards

  • Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics, Mathematical Association of America, 2009

Presentations

  • Sophie Germain's grand plan to prove Fermat's Last Theorem, Lonseth Lecture, Oregon State University, 2014. Also for Association for Women in Mathematics (OSU), for International Women in Mathematics Day, 2020; available at https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/0_4k4kdymj.
  • How to beat the lecture/textbook trap, and then throw them both away! Melding inquiry-based alternatives for both, invited plenary address, Legacy of R. L. Moore Conference, 2013; available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVzAzeJyaPU&feature=share&list= PL7HVaYibt1knjNNERi3otgm-NWohd5m8k
  • Teaching with primary historical sources: Should it go mainstream? Can it?, keynote plenary speaker, quadrennial conference of the International Study Group on History and Pedagogy of Mathematics, Mexico City, 2008.