Department History

A Historical Timeline of the Department of Mathematics & Statistics

by Randall Swift, Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Summer 2026

Narrative

The history of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is a story about people. Although buildings have changed, curricula have evolved, and the university has grown from a small agricultural college into a polytechnic university, the department has always been about its faculty, staff, and students.

For over seventy years, generations of department faculty have formed a community focused on excellence in teaching, scholarship, and applications of mathematics.

The department began in 1956, when California State Polytechnic College consolidated instruction on the Kellogg-Voorhis campus. At that time, the college had 550 students, and the Mathematics Department had three faculty members: Cameron C. Bogue, William McIntosh, and William Paugstat. Mathematics mainly supported engineering and agriculture.

The department grew quickly during its first decade. Wallace Raab, the founding department chair, helped create a tradition of hiring talented faculty who were not only skilled teachers, but were also scholars. Almost every year during the late 1950s and 1960s, new faculty members were hired; they brought expertise in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, mathematics education, and statistics.

The hiring of Laure Abu-Haydar in 1960, the department's first female tenure-track faculty member, reflected the broadening of the department and foreshadowed the college becoming co-ed in 1963.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were transformative years for the department. Many new faculty were hired, especially the large hiring class (seven) of 1969. These faculty set the department's direction for the next thirty years. Courses, reflective of the faculty interests, were developed in analysis, algebra, geometry, statistics, and applied mathematics.

Many of these professors are legendary teachers and mentors whose impact reached far beyond the classroom. Former students fondly remember faculty members who taught them to think mathematically. Faculty were advisors and encouraged students to pursue graduate studies, teaching careers, or jobs in industry. Few now remain that knew these colleagues. The department was a lively place, where discussions often continued long after a class or department meeting had ended.

One of the key aspects of our department is its continuity. Many faculty members have dedicated decades, thirty or even forty years, to Cal Poly Pomona. These faculty have taught thousands of students, mentored young faculty, developed new courses, and took on many university leadership roles. The commitment of these faculty members is also shown in the generous donations from many of them and their families, providing scholarships to our students.

The department has faced tough times with resilience. Statewide hiring freezes in the 1990s, the Great Recession, faculty furloughs, curriculum changes, the university's move from the quarter system to semesters, and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic have all posed major challenges. Each time, faculty adjusted while maintaining high-quality instruction and a supportive environment. These experiences strengthened the tradition of working together for students' benefit.

Perhaps the most visible sign of the department's culture is its commitment to students. Faculty have long practiced an open-door policy, encouraging students to ask for help, pose questions, and actively engage in the mathematics community. Undergraduate research, student clubs, mentoring, tutoring, and more recently the reopening in 2026 of the Mathematics and Statistics Help (MaSH) center and the establishment of the Applied Mathematics Laboratory in 2025, all show a department that values personal interaction in mathematics instruction.

Today, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics stands as one of the oldest, largest, and most accomplished academic departments at the university. Its faculty have received numerous awards for teaching, research and service; they continue to combine excellence in teaching with active scholarship, preparing students for careers in education, industry, government, and further studies.

Although the department has changed immensely since its founding in 1956, its core qualities remain. It is a department built on collegiality, sustained by dedicated teachers, enriched by generations of remarkable students, and united by a shared belief that mathematics is both a beautiful intellectual discipline and an essential tool for understanding the world.

Comments about the Timeline

The following timeline of the department is derived from many sources. I was an undergraduate in this department from 1980 to 1985 and returned to Cal Poly Pomona as an associate professor in 2001. I am now the department chair. I knew, either as a student or as a colleague, almost all of the tenure-track members and most of the lecturers of this department.

The timeline and narrative is from departmental oral history, my memories and shared experiences with colleagues, both as a student and a faculty member. The University Catalogs were a vital source of information. The department has a complete set of catalogs that were from mathematics faculty C. Bogue, J. Kachun and D. Moore. The university library’s special archives contain yearbooks from 1958-70 and library archivist Kimberly Erickson was very helpful in compiling information. Cal Poly Pomona’s heritage website has a wonderful narrative about the university’s history.

The department really is about the people who have been here, teaching mathematics and statistics for the last 70 years. There have been so many to have lectured mathematics at Cal Poly. Due to incomplete records on part time lecturers and full-time faculty (prior to 2000) whose time here was brief, I have recorded those who received tenure. The Faculty & Staff Emeriti website contains the emeritus faculty and their photo.

I would like to thank Bill Burrows, Harsha Deoghare, Kimberly Edwards, Cidni Griffith, Adriana Meza, Amber Rosin, Jenny Switkes, Erin Swift and Kelly Swift for their helpful comments on this project and earlier drafts of this work.

This is meant as a living document, one that can continue to be expanded. I am a mathematician, not a historian. Any factual errors are mine and any and all corrections are most welcome. Please email rjswift@cpp.edu.

Some Campus History

California State Polytechnic College had three campuses – San Luis Obispo, San Dimas & Pomona. The Pomona campus was called the Kellogg-Voorhis campus. San Dimas & Pomona were essentially one college with two locations. The San Dimas campus was primarily agriculture and started in 1938. The Kellogg-Voorhis campus came about from the land gift from Kellogg in 1945. Once the land from Kellogg was obtained, plans were formed to merge the two campuses, creating one college at the Pomona location.

Campus Timeline

1925: W.K. Kellogg purchases 377 acres of land in Pomona to build the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch.
1928: Charles Voorhis establishes the Voorhis School for Boys in San Dimas. His son, H. Jerry Voorhis is appointed schoolmaster.
1932: Kellogg donates the ranch and horses to the University of California. It operates as the W.K. Kellogg Institute of Animal Husbandry.
1936: H. Jerry Voorhis is elected to Congress.
1938: The Voorhis family decides to close the Voorhis School for Boys and donates the campus to the California State Polytechnic School in San Luis Obispo. The campus operates as the southern satellite of Cal Poly and is known as the California State Polytechnic School, Voorhis Unit. It was a two-year all-male agricultural college with 80 students and 5 faculty members. Students are expected to spend their senior year at the San Luis Obispo campus.
1943 (Spring): The Voorhis Unit closes due to World War II.
1943 (October): The Kellogg Ranch is transferred from the University of California to the United States Army and operates as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount) to breed horses for the cavalry.
1945: World War II ends.
1946: The Voorhis Unit reopens with an enrollment of 270 students.
1948: The Army discontinues the Remount program and the Kellogg Ranch is transferred to the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture does not have the funds to operate the Ranch and decides to sell the Ranch and horses. The decision is very unpopular and W.K. Kellogg lobbies hard to regain control of the Ranch.
1949 (January 1): The first Cal Poly float is entered in the Tournament of Roses Parade and wins the Award of Merit.
1949 (June 4): President Harry S. Truman signs bill (S.B. 969) which transfers the Ranch to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
1949 (July 2): The California Legislature passes Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 100 to transfer the Ranch from the Kellogg Foundation to Cal Poly.
1949 (December 14): A sign reading “California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg Unit” is posted at the Ranch gate.
1951: W.K. Kellogg passes away at the age of 91.
1956: The college outgrows the smaller Voorhis Unit campus and all instruction is moved to the Kellogg Unit.
The name of the college is changed to California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis.
The science building (building 3) opened.
1957: Pomona students no longer go to San Luis Obispo for their senior year and graduation. The first Pomona commencement ceremony takes place in the Rose Garden.
1959: The cement block letters “CP” were placed on Colt Hill by the Poly Service Club (Phi Sigma Chi).
1961: Campuses became co-ed. Women enroll for the first time when 329 women join the student body of 2,436 men in the fall quarter.
1966: The Pomona campus separates from San Luis Obispo when the California Legislature establishes California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis as an independent college. It becomes the 16th college in the California State College system.
1972: We became California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Department of Mathematics Timeline

1956: The Mathematics Department began. It was in the Division of Arts and Sciences. The department was support for Agriculture and Engineering. The highest-level course offered was Math 316 – Differential Equations.
There are 550 students and 30 faculty members at the college.
The Mathematics Department had 3 faculty members:
- Cameron C. Bogue (hired 1955)
- William McIntosh (hired 1951)
- William Paugstat (hired 1956)
1957: Tenure-track hires: Kenneth Kriege, Wallace Raab, (first PhD faculty member of the department).
1958: Tenure-track hires: Douglas Moore, Harold Simmons, (second PhD faculty member of the department).
Wallace Raab, Founding Chair - Mathematics Department Head from 1958 to 1965.
1959: Tenure-track hires: George Carlstedt, Thomas Flynn, Joseph Kachun
1960: The department offers a mathematics degree. Secondary Education was the main focus. Courses are offered at the senior level. Math 408 – Functions of a Complex Variable as well as the first graduate level course Math 521 – Curriculum and Methods in Mathematics. The catalog of courses includes some early computer science courses.
Tenure-track hires: Laure Abu-Haydar (department’s first female faculty member), Harry Wilson.
The department had 13 faculty members.
1961: Tenure-track hires: George Carson, Albert Konigsberg.
1962: Course offerings continue to expand. Analysis Math 412-413, Algebra Math 410, Math 422 Numerical Methods, as well as Statistics courses: Math 309 – Statistics for Engineering and Math 311, 322 – Mathematical Statistics are added to the catalog and are offered for the first time.
Tenure-track hire: Kenneth MacDonald.
1963: Tenure-track hire: Yu Chang.
1964: Tenure-track hires: Carlos Ford-Livene, Samuel Gendelman, Lydia Moore (later Lydia Gans). Carlos was the department’s first mathematician of the African Diaspora.
1965: Harold Simmons, Mathematics Department Head from 1965 to 1968, title changed to Department Chair, 1968.
Tenure-track hire: Alice Huffman (later Alice King), David Horwitz, Larry Irwin, Kei Lee.
Curriculum continues to grow, Math 411 Foundations of Geometry, Math 421 Design of Experiment and Math 422 Design of Surveys added to the catalog.
1966: The department continues its rapid growth.
Tenure-track hires: Alice Becker, Theodore Cullen, Martha Janson, Thomas King.
1967: The 5-quarter calculus sequence numbering Math 114, 115, 116, 214, 215 begins.
Tenure-track hires: Stuart Friedman.
1968: Tenure-track hires: Emil Herzog, Gail Konkle
1969: The department hires 7 more faculty members, largest increase in a single academic year.
Tenure-track hires: Charles Amelin, Tsu Chen, Hsin Fan, Donald Hook, Henryka Maslowski, Alan Radnitz, Richard Robertson. The department had 34 faculty members. These faculty members established the department’s direction for the next three decades.
1970: The department offers its first graduate courses. Math 511, 512 – Real Analysis and Math 517, 518 – Abstract Algebra.
The faculty continues to grow.
Sidney Birnbaum hired to be the department chair.
Tenure-track hire: Frank Glaser.
1971: Tenure-track hires: Hasan Celik, John Fisher.
1972: As we became California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, the Mathematics Department was in the School of Science.
Tenure-track hires: Peter Laszlo, Jack Hofer, V. Merriline Smith.
The department had 36 faculty members.
Graduate courses Math 521, 522 – Topology, Math 528, 529 – Complex Analysis and Math 545, 546 – Topics in Applied Mathematics added to the curriculum.
1973: Tenure-track hires: Bruce Hillam, James McKinney, Judy McKinney (later Judy Reeves).
1975: Emil Herzog became department chair.
1976: The second Science Building, Building 8, opens. The Mathematics Department main office is located in 8 – 113.
Tenure-track hires: John Morgan.
1977: Tenure-track hire: Francis Mathur.
1978: Carlos Ford-Levine became department chair.
STA designation for Statistics courses appears.
Tenure-track hires: Daniel Marcus, Kamta Rai.
The department had 40 faculty members.
1980: John Fisher became department chair.
Tenure-track hire: Carol Smith.
1982: Computer Science left the mathematics department, becoming its own department. Bruce Hillam was the first department chair. Computer Science had 4 faculty members.
The mathematics department had 37 faculty (after the split off of Computer Science)
1983: V. Merriline Smith became department chair.
Associate Chair: Larry Irwin (needs further confirmation).
Tenure-track hire: Alan Krinik.
1984: Tenure-track hires: Harriet Lord, Barbara Shabell.
Ray Shifflet hired to be the Dean of the School of Science (retreat rights to mathematics).
1986: New master’s degree in applied mathematics offered.
Tenure-track hires: Claudia Pinter-Lucke, Judith Jacobs, Scott Sportsman.
1988: Center for Education and Equity in Mathematics, Science and Technology (CEEMaST) opens; Judith Jacobs director.
Tenure-track hires: Bernard Banks, D.S. Gill.
1990: Jack Price joins CEEMaST
1991: Richard Robertson became department chair.
Associate Chair: Claudia Pinter-Lucke (1991 – 1996).
Daniel Marcus published Differential Equations An Introduction, which was the department’s first DE text. Used for Math 216 over the next decade.
1992: CSU General Hiring Freeze – tenure-line hired only under special circumstances.
1993: Tenure-track hires: Lilian Metlitzky, Martin Nakashima.
1994: Tenure-track hire: Weiqing Xie.
1995: The School of Science became the College of Science. Simon Bernau hired as College of Science Dean (retreat rights to mathematics).
1996: Science building, building 4, opens.
Claudia Pinter-Lucke became department chair.
Associate Chair: Alan Krinik (1996 – 2004), Barbara Shabell (2004 – 2005).
1998: Harriet Lord received the Ralph W. Ames Distinguished Research Award.
The award is to honor a faculty member in the College of Science who has distinguished themself and the College through their productivity in discipline-based research.
1999: CSU Hiring Freeze ends, ushering in the hiring of 13 new department members within 5 years. All areas of the department - Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics, Statistics and Mathematics Education acquired new faculty.
New tenure-track hiring begins, 13 hired over 5 years, foundational faculty for the next several decades:
- 2000: Patricia Hale, Laurie Riggs, Stephen Wirkus
- 2001: Jennifer Switkes, Randall Swift
- 2002: Michael Green, Hoon Kim, Ioana Mihaila
- 2003: Berit Givens, Karen Linton, Amber Rosin, Greisy Winicki-Landman
- 2004: Hubertus von Bremen
2000: Bernard Banks publishes Differential Equations with Graphical and Numerical Methods, this is the second department DE text.
2000 – 2010: Retirements every year of the faculty hired in the late 1960’s to mid 1970’s.
2002: Lilian Metlitzky receives the College of Science Distinguished Teaching Award.
2003: Main office expansion and remodel.
2004-05: Building 3 earthquake retrofit and remodel.
2005: Barbara Shabell became department chair.
Associate Chair: Michael Green (2005 – 2007).
The Department of Mathematics became the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
2006: Swift & Wirkus publish their Differential Equations text – A Course in Ordinary Differential Equations, which was the department’s third DE text. Used for Math 216 & 224 over the next decade.
2006: Tenure-track hires: Brent Deschamp, Robin Wilson (both left, Robin left as a full professor in 2024).
2007: Michael Green became department chair.
Associate Chair: Hubertus von Bremen (2007 – 2009).
Tenure-track hire: Chris Mun (Three others Christine Latulippe, Joe Latulippe & Phillip Yates were hired, but left).
2008: Great Recession.
Ben Miller and Amber Rosin received the College of Science Distinguished Teaching Award.
2009: We hired math educator Carla Gerberry who remained only a few years in the department.
2010: Tenure-track hires: Mits Kobayashi and Emile Lawerence (Emile was here only 1 year).
2010: Faculty Furloughs - very difficult financial times. Michael Green’s steadfast leadership was essential.
2011 - 2015: Rapid Expansion of Mathematics Major.
2011 – present: Consistent tenure-track hiring.
2011: Alan Krinik became department chair.
Associate Chair: Jenny Switkes.
Economic Recovery in California.
Tenure-track hires: Arlo Caine, John Rock, Ryan Szypowski.
Randall Swift received the Ralph W. Ames Distinguished Research Award
2012: Tenure-track hire: Stacy Brown.
Hubertus von Bremen received the Ralph W. Ames Distinguished Research Award.
Jennifer Switkes received the College of Science Distinguished Teaching Award.
2014: Tenure-track hire: Adam King.
2014 – 2017: Extensive curriculum discussion for upcoming semester conversion
2015: Tenure-track hire: Stacy Musgrave.
Jennifer Switkes received the Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching
2016: Berit Givens became Department chair.
Associate Chairs: Jenny Switkes, Arlo Caine (? – 2021), Randy Swift (2021 – 2024), Stacy Musgrave (2024).
Berit’s 8 years (2016 – 2024) as chair saw the department weather EO 1110, Semester Conversion and the COVID pandemic. Her thoughtful and strong leadership was crucial through these difficult times.
Tenure-track hires: Jillian Cannons, Briana Foster-Greenwood and Ivan Ventura.
Jennifer Switkes received the Ralph W. Ames Distinguished Research Award.
2017: EO 1110 – End of Remedial Mathematics Courses in the CSU. Creation of stretch courses in College Algebra and Statistics.
Tenure-track hires: Fernando Lopez-Garcia, Jimmy Risk.
2018: Cal Poly Pomona becomes a semester system university. Curriculum completely changed.
Tenure-track hires: Anne Cawley, Cristina Runnalls
2019: Tenure-track hire: Lily Silverstein.
Robin Wilson received the College of Science Distinguished Teaching Award.
Jennifer Switkes received the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics from the Mathematical Association of America.
2020 - 2022: Global COVID Pandemic – large numbers of courses online.
2020: Coordination of 1000, 2000 level courses begins. Common final exams in Calculus I,II, III.
Tenure-track hire: Manuch Aminian.
2021: Alan Krinik received the Ralph W. Ames Distinguished Research Award.
2022: Campus fully returns to in-person instruction.
Tenure-track hire: Hyunkyoung Yoon.
Arlo Caine received the College of Science Distinguished Teaching Award.
2023: Tenure-track hire: He Jiang.
2024: Randall Swift became Department Chair.
Associate Chairs: Stacy Musgrave, Amber Rosin, Jenny Switkes.
Tenure-track hires: Emily Heath, Peter Kagey.
Master’s program changed – two new master’s degrees offered. Karen Vaughn received the College of Science Alumni Award.
Clayton Coe, Ian Farish, and Samuel Lucas Mazariegos, the department’s Putnam team placed 132 nationally.
2025: Efficient Course Scheduling and assignment.
Applied Mathematics Laboratory opens, Arlo Caine director.
Tenure-track hire: Noé Vidales.
Berit Givens received the Provost Award for Excellence in Service.
2026: Mathematics and Statistics Help (MaSH) rededicated.

Mathematics Department Chairs

Wallace Raab, 1958 - 1965
Harold Simmons, 1965 - 1971
Sidney Birnbaum, 1971 – 1975 (Assoc. Dean of the School of Science, 1975 – 1979.)
Emil Herzog, 1975 – 1978
Carlos Ford-Livene, 1978 – 1980
John Fisher, 1980 – 1983
V. Merriline Smith, 1983 – 1991
Richard Robertson, 1991 – 1996
Claudia Pinter-Lucke, 1996 – 2005
Barbara Shabell, 2005 – 2007
Michael Green, 2007 – 2011
Alan Krinik, 2011 – 2016
Berit Givens, 2016 – 2024
Randall Swift, 2024 -

References

The University Archives have most of the catalogs online. I found the following printed catalogs (departmental copies) most helpful in compiling this timeline.

The bulletins from 1957 – 1966 are joint catalogs with Cal Poly SLO
1. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1957-58 Catalog
2. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1958-59 Catalog
3. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1959-60 Catalog
4. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1960-61 Catalog
5. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1961-62 Catalog
6. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1962-63 Catalog
7. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1963-64 Catalog
8. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1964-65 Catalog
9. California State Polytechnic College Bulletin, 1965-66 Catalog

The catalogs from 1966 – 1972 are after we became a separate CSU campus
10. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1966-67
11. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1967-68
12. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1968-69
13. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1969-70
14. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1970-71
15. California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis Catalog, 1971-72

The catalogs from 1972 to today are after we became a university
16. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1972-73
17. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1973-74
18. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1974-75
19. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1975-76
20. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1976-77
21. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1977-78
22. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1978-79
23. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1979-80
24. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Catalog, 1980-82