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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.
Honors/Grants
Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching, 2003.
ISMAA Project NExT Fellow, 1998.
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
A few weeks after completing an international assignment to take photos of newly arrived pandas in Scotland, Knox College instructor Michael Godsil is asked to document the delivery of two more pandas in France.
Knox College introduces KnoxReads, an online book discussion. The first selection is "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World," by writer and foreign policy analyst Robin Wright, who visits Knox on February 28.
"Knox in New York students are exposed to different communities of artists and to a variety of art forms. This experience is transformative," says Professor Lynette Lombard.
