Hillsdale College Mathematics Professor Receives Distinguished Teacher Award
March 22, 2016
Hillsdale College is pleased to congratulate associate professor of mathematics Dr. David C. Murphy for receiving the Distinguished College of University Teaching Award of Mathematics from the Michigan section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The MAA established the award in 1992 to recognize and honor outstanding teaching in the field of mathematics. This is only the third time in the award’s 25-year history that a professor at a liberal arts college received this award.
“We are absolutely thrilled that one of Hillsdale’s own has been chosen for this distinguished award,” said Dr. Samuel Webster, chair of the mathematics department. “Dr. Murphy is a deserving recipient of this award, and illustrates Hillsdale College’s commitment to academic excellence in all subjects as part of a robust liberal arts education. We look forward to many more of our professors winning this award in the future.”
Dr. Murphy is an associate professor of mathematics in his ninth year of teaching at Hillsdale College. He obtained his B.A. in mathematics from Western Michigan University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before coming to Hillsdale, he taught for three years at
Kalamazoo College.
Murphy’s research has been in the areas of algebraic geometry, representation theory, and invariant theory. His other interests include the philosophy of mathematics and recreational mathematics, especially the mathematics of sequential movement puzzles like peg solitaire or the Rubik’s cube. He recently coauthored a textbook, Algebraic Geometry: A Problem Solving Approach, which was published in 2013 by the American Mathematical Society.