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General Interests
"My current research centers on the historical development of mathematical ideas in calculus and modern algebra. In calculus, I have been looking at mathematicians who were working immediately prior to the time of Leibnitz and Newton -- the two individuals usually credited with the discovery of calculus -- and studying their techniques for finding tangents and rectifying curves.
In algebra, I have been studying the history of 19th century invariant theory. Invariant theory all but disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century, but was crucial in the development of commutative ring theory and representation history -- two very important branches of modern algebra. Invariant theory has also been resurrected in the modern work of Mumford and Rota."
Years at Knox: 1995 to present
Education
Ph.D., Mathematics, 1994, Rutgers University.
B.A., Mathematics, Philosophy and Latin, 1989, St. Olaf College.
Teaching Interests
Functions, calculus, differential equations, mathematical statistics, analysis, history of mathematics
Recent Recognition
Awards
Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching, 2003.
Fellowships
ISMAA Project NExT Fellow, 1998.
Recent Accomplishments
Publications
"The Classification of Multiplicity Free Representations." Journal of Lie Theory 8 (1998): 367-391.
"The Contest Problem Book V," by George Berzsenyi and Stephen B. Maurer and "Critical Puzzles," by Michael A. DiSpezio. Available at MAA Online.
Presentations
"Prelude to the Hilbert Basis Theorem." Annual meeting of the Illinois state section of the Mathematical Association of America (ISMAA), Lebanon, Illinois, March 27-28, 1998.
Campus & Community Involvement
Participant, Joint Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America, Maryland, 1998.
What Students Say
"Professor Leahy is always open and willing to answer questions. No question is 'too stupid' and he can make clear any ambiguous subject. He is concerned with his students and remembers everyone."
-Nahyan Fancy, Mathematics Major
Contact
309-341-7439
aleahy@knox.edu
The Knox-Sandburg Community Concert Band, Knox Wind Ensemble, and individual music students perform in concert and recital, November 13 through 17 at Knox College.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Elisabeth Herrmann of the University of Alberta gives the 2009 Johnson Lecture, "Mapping Germany from a Cultural Perspective Twenty Years after the Fall of the Wall," November 13 at Knox College.
Severed heads, a ghost in the well -- the Knox College Japanese Club marks Halloween by building a "Kimodameshi," which led visitors through scenes drawn from traditional Japanese ghost stories.
