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A Black, Gay Mathematics Department Chair? Or, How I Got Here From There

A Black, Gay Mathematics Department Chair? Or, How I Got Here From There. Ron Buckmire Occidental College Los Angeles, CA ron@oxy.edu. Outline. Goals of this talk Biography Education Employment Extra Curricular Activities Questions. Goals.

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A Black, Gay Mathematics Department Chair? Or, How I Got Here From There

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  1. A Black, Gay Mathematics Department Chair? Or, How I Got Here From There Ron Buckmire Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, CAron@oxy.edu

  2. Outline • Goals of this talk • Biography • Education • Employment • Extra Curricular Activities • Questions "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  3. Goals • To provide you with information about one person’s trajectory through the academy • To encourage you to bring your whole self to all your endeavors "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  4. Biography • Born in Grenada (May 21, 1968) • Lived in U.S. 1970-1978 • Lived in Barbados 1978-1986 • Secondary School: Combermere (established 1695) • (very) British school system (high stakes exams at the end of each year and at 16 and 18) • Excellent chemistry teacher (Mr. Barrett) • Awful mathematics teacher "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  5. Education • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) 1986-1994 • Physics major immediately switched to Math • Arrived on B-1 visitor visa changed to F-1 student visa • Did undergraduate research very first summer (paid to do math? What a concept!) • Two Ph.D. thesis advisors: Julian Cole and Don Schwendeman • Topic: The Design of Shock-Free Transonic Slender Bodies "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  6. Employment / Teaching • Occidental College, Minority Postdoctoral Scholar in Residence, 1994-1996 • Found out about position from then-chair of the Oxy math department (who was gay) • Oxy was ranked #1 or #2 most multicultural liberal arts college in the US • Immediately demanded domestic partner benefits (received in 1995) • Tenure-track in 1996 "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  7. Employment / Teaching • Had never taught a class before (RA only at RPI) • Co-taught Calculus 1st semester • First solo class was Numerical Analysis, created Mathematical Modeling • 1997, 1999, 2002 co-created and co-taught “Race, Gender and Justice” (gay marriage and internet literacy) in Cultural Studies Program • 1999, 2003, 2005 taught American Studies in Multicultural Summer Institute • Tenured in 2004, became Department Chair in 2005 "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  8. Extra-curricular activities • Came out in Fall 1989 • President of RPI’s student LGBT group • Openly gay elected graduate student senator • Multiple college-wide diversity committees at RPI • Created first repository of “gay stuff” on the Internet, the Queer Resources Directory, in 1991 (Netscape Navigator released in 1994!) • QRD was successful plaintiff in ACLU et al v Reno in 1997 when SCOTUS struck down Communications Decency Act (“The internet is for porn!”) "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  9. Extra-curricular activities • 2006 co-created community-based learning course Math, Education & Access To Power • In 2007 met Bob Moses at a conference; Algebra Project now being taught at Franklin HS, Crenshaw HS, Academia Avance • In 1994 co-founded Immigration Equality, L.A. chapter of LGBT immigrant rights group. (perm. res. 1998; USC 2003) • Co-founded Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition (Black LGBT political advocacy group) in 2006 • Co-chair, Los Angeles County No On 8, 2008 (married 08/08/08) • Blogging daily as MadProfessah.com since Janaury 2005 • Created “Gender, Race and Gay Rights in the Obama era” class for Fall 2009; two sections in Fall 2010 "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  10. Thank You • Dagan Karp, SUMS coordinator • Andy Bernoff, Chair of HMC Math • My (legally married) Husband, Dean Elzinga • All of You "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

  11. Questions? "Seminar on Underrepresentation and the Mathematical Sciences" (HMC, April 2, 2010)

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