Kreider, Donald Lester, 1931-2006

Dates

• Existence: 1931 - 2006

Biography

Donald L. Kreider was born in Lancaster, PA, on December 5, 1931. He was educated at Lititz High School in Lititz, PA, and graduated from Lebanon Valley College in 1953. Kreider received a PhD from MIT in mathematical logic in 1959. At MIT, in recognition of his conspicuously effective teaching, both as a graduate student and as a member of the academic staff, he was awarded the Goodwin Medal in 1958.

Kreider spent his academic career as a member of the Dartmouth College faculty, starting in 1960 after a postdoctoral year teaching at MIT. At Dartmouth, he taught a wide range of subjects in both mathematics and computer science. In addition, Kreider served twice as chair of the Department of Mathematics and as Vice-President and Dean of Student Affairs during the presidency of John Kemeny. An avid hiker, he led Freshman trips into the White Mountains for many years.

In the 1960's, he was invited to join the Entebbe Project and spent three summers in Africa working closely with local teachers, developing a new high school curriculum in mathematics, textbooks, and teacher training materials for use in village schools.

Kreider served the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in many capacities: on the Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM), which publishes guidelines for the mathematics curriculum and for teacher training, on the Budget Committee, as Treasurer (1989-1991), President-elect (1992), President (1993-1994), and on the Board of Governors (1995-1999). Kreider was a leader in calculus education reform and received one of the first grants in the Calculus Initiative launched by National Science Foundation in 1989. In addition, Kreider served many years for the College Board, as chair of its Calculus Development Committee and as a member of its Mathematical Science Advisory Committee in the 1970's, when he was instrumental in creating an Advanced Placement course in computer science.

Kreider authored several mathematics texts: Linear Analysis, with Kuller, Ostberg, and Perkins; Differential Equations, with Kuller and Ostberg; Investigations in Mathematics, with La Torre and Proctor; and Case Studies in Calculus with Lahr. He was still working with Dartmouth colleagues on Principles of Calculus Modeling - An Interactive Approach.

Kreider retired from the College in 1997. He died on December 7, 2006.

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