Headshot of Dr.Della Dumbaugh

Dr. Della Dumbaugh

Professor of Mathematics
Robert Edwin Gaines Chair in Mathematics
  • Profile

    I teach across the mathematics curriculum, including Calculus I, II, and III, Linear Algebra, Foundations of Mathematics, Abstract Algebra I (Group Theory) and II (Ring and Field Theory), and Number Theory. I also enjoy creating courses that cut across disciplines and schools such as "Vienna: The Biography of a City," a travel course to Vienna.

    My research lies in the history of mathematics, particularly in the fields of algebra and number theory. When Mark Warner was governor of Virginia he asked "what do historians of mathematics study?" That is a great question. We study mathematics, the people who create mathematics, the institutions that support mathematics, the false starts in particular areas of mathematics, the politics that influence the development of mathematics and how the larger cultural context impinges on the development of mathematics. This discipline combines technical questions in mathematics with appropriate historical questions to yield a rich perspective on both mathematics and history. If you are interested in pursuing research in this area, please contact me.

    Count Me In Book CoverCount Me In: Community and Belonging in Mathematics

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    • Awards

      John M. Smith Award for Distinguished University Teaching, Mathematical Association of America, MD-DC-VA Section, awarded April, 2019.

      State Council of Higher Education of Virginia, TIAA-CREF Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, January, 2004.

      Distinguished Educator Award, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, August, 2003.

  • Publications
    Books

    Dumbaugh, Della and Deanna Haunsperger, Count Me In: Community and Belonging in Mathematics, in press, Providence, RI: MAA and AMS Press, 241 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4704-6566-7, 2022.

    Dumbaugh, Della and Joachim Schwermer, Emil Artin and Beyond: Class Field Theory and L-Functions, Zürich: European Mathematical Publishing House, 231 pages, ISBN: 978-3-03719-146-0, March, 2015.

    Albers, Donald, Gerald Alexanderson, Della Dumbaugh, Frank Farris, Deanna Haunsperger, Stephen Kennedy, Paul Zorn, eds. A Century of Advancing Mathematics. Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Association of America, 2015. Named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

    Journal Articles

    Della Dumbaugh. “‘Brilliance and Generosity of Heart’: Elizabeth Meckes (1980-2020),” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 69 (March 2022): 413-416.

    Della Dumbaugh, “Prospering within Mathematics,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 68  (December 2021): 1969-1978.

    Della Dumbaugh and Deanna Haunsperger, “Improving the Status of Women in the Profession: Honoring the Efforts of Mary Gray,” Focus, (October/November 2021): 6-9.

    Della Dumbaugh and Deanna Haunsperger, “Citation for Mary Gray: MAA Certificate of Merit, 2021,” Mathematical Association of America MathFest Booklet, August, 2021.

    Della Dumbaugh and Deanna Haunsperger, “Community and Belonging in Mathematics,” Focus, 41 (1) (February/March 2021): 26-28.

    Della Dumbaugh, “Oral Exams: A Time-Honored Tool with a Fresh Purpose,” Mathematical Association of America: Math Values, March 11, 2021. https://www.mathvalues.org/masterblog/oral-exams-a-time-honored-tool-with-a-fresh-purpose

    Della Dumbaugh and William McCallum, “Rethinking the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Light of COVID-19,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 67 (January, 2021): 663-666.

    Dumbaugh, Della. “7 lessons from Hidden Figures’ NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson’s life and career,” The Conversation, February 25, 2020.  Distributed by more than 30 news outlets. 

    Della Dumbaugh and Adrian Rice. “A Template for Success: Celebrating the Life of Judith Grabiner,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 67 (March 2020): 336-344. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “The Ties that Bind: Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya and the 2022 ICM in St. Petersburg,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 67 (March 2020): 373-381. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “A Math Professor Makes the Case for Revisiting Algebra as an Adult,” Medium, January 8, 2020. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “From Breakthrough Prizes to Breakout Graduate Fellowships: ‘Mathematics is a Community,’” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (August/September 2019): 678-681. 

    Della Dumbaugh and Basel Arafat. “The Genesis of Americanmathematics.org: A Global Classroom Experience,” Focus, (August/September 2019): 35-36.

    Dumbaugh, Della. “Extensive Cooperation with Rugged Individualism: George Mackey’s Guide for Practitioners of Mathematics,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (June/July 2019): 883-891. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “3 Times Political Conflict Reshaped American Mathematics,” The Conversation, April 2, 2019.  Distributed by more than 30 news outlets. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “Creating Opportunities and Building Confidence: Clare Boothe Luce’s Unexpected Support of Women in Math and Science,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (March, 2019): 387-394. 

    Dumbaugh, Della. “Maria Gaetana Agnesi: 1718-1799,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (March, 2019): 414-415.

    Dumbaugh, Della. “The Hidden Figure of Hidden Figures: Rudy Horne,”Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 66 (February, 2019): 202-210.

    Dumbaugh, D. and Fenster, H. "Calculating Intersections: The Crossroads of Mathematics and Literature in the Lives of Mother and Daughter," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 8 Issue 2 (July 2018), pages 90-102. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.201802.09. Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol8/iss2/9

    Dumbaugh, Della D. and Amy Shell-Gellasch. “The ‘Wide Influence’ of Leonard Eugene Dickson,” Chinese translation, Mathematical Advances in Translation, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2018.

    Dumbaugh, Della D. and Amy Shell-Gellasch. “The ‘Wide Influence’ of Leonard Eugene Dickson,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 64 (2017): 772-776.

    Dumbaugh, Della D. Review of Rainer Maria Rilke, New Poems, trans. Len Krisak. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2015. 392 pp. Journal of Austrian Studies, Volume 50, Issue 1/2, pp. 156-160.

    Dumbaugh, Della. “Time and Place: Sustaining the American Mathematical Community,” in Albers, Donald, Gerald Alexanderson, Della Dumbaugh, Frank Farris, Deanna Haunsperger, Stephen Kennedy, Paul Zorn, eds. A Century of Advancing Mathematics. Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Association of America, 2015, pp. 177-190.

    Dumbaugh, Della D., Deborah Kent and Tom Archibald, “A Mobilized Community: Mathematicians in the United States During the First World War,” pp. 229-271, The War of Guns and Mathematics, edited by Catherine Goldstein and David Aubin, Providence: American Mathematical Society, 2014.

    Dumbaugh, Della, “2014 Mathematics Programs that Make a Difference: Carleton College Summer Math Program,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 61 (2014): 532-533.

    Dumbaugh, Della. Review of A History in Sum: 150 Years of Mathematics at Harvard, 1825-1875, by Steve Nadis and Shing-Tung Yang, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013, 249 pp. Historia Mathematica (45), February, 2018: 85-90.

    Dumbaugh, Della and Joachim Schwermer, “Creating a Life: Emil Artin in America,” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 50 (2013): 321-330. (Journal Cover)

    Dumbaugh, Della and Joachim Schwermer, “The collaboration of Emil Artin and George Whaples: Artin’s mathematical circle extends to America,” Archive for History of Exact Sciences 66 (2012): 465-484.  DOI 10.1007/s00407-012-0100-2.

    Dumbaugh, Della D. and Hannah Fenster. Review of Professor Mommy: Finding Work-Family Balance in Academia, Association for Women in Mathematics Newsletter 42 (4) July-August, 2012.

    Fenster, Della D.  "Emil Artin," in The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, pp. 812-813, edited by W. T. Gowers and J. Barrow-Green, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.

    Fenster, Della D.  "Research in Algebra at the University of Chicago: Leonard Eugene Dickson and A. Adrian   Albert," History of Algebra in the 19th and 20th Centuries, pp. 179-197, edited by Jeremy J. Gray and Karen Hunger Parshall, Providence, R.I., and London, England:  The American Mathematical Society and the London Mathematical Society, 2007.

    Fenster, Della D. and Joachim Schwermer, "Beyond Class Field Theory: Helmut Hasse's Arithmetic in the Theory of Algebras in Early 1931," Archive for History of Exact Sciences 61 (2007): 425-456.

    Fenster, Della D. and Joachim Schwermer, "A Delicate Collaboration: A. Adrian Albert and Helmut Hasse and the Principal Theorem in Division Algebras in the Early 1930's," Archive for History of Exact Sciences 59 (2005): 349-379.

    Book Chapters

    Dumbaugh, Della D. and Joachim Schwermer. “Käte Hey and Margaret Matchett – Two Women PhD Students of Emil Artin,” Janet Beery, Sarah Greenwald, Jacqueline Jensen-Vallin, and Maura Mast, eds.  Women in Mathematics: Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America. Association for Women in Mathematics Series, vol 10, Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2017, pp. 51-66.

    Fenster, Della D. "Artin in America (1937-1958): A Time of Transition," Emil Artin: Leben und Werk, pp. 99-118, edited by Karin Reich and Alexander Kreuzer, Augsburg, Dr. Erwin Rauner Verlag, 2007.

    Fenster, Della D.  "Gauss Goes West: The Reception of the Disquisitiones Arithmeticae in the USA," in The Shaping of Arithmetic: after Carl-Friedrich Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, pp. 463-479, edited by Catherine Goldstein, Norbert Schappacher, and Joachim Schwermer, Heidelberg:  Springer-Verlag, 2007.

    Fenster, Della D. and Joachim Schwermer "Composition of Quadratic Forms: An Algebraic Perspective," in The Shaping of Arithmetic: after Carl-Friedrich Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, pp. 145-158, edited by Catherine Goldstein, Norbert Schappacher, and Joachim Schwermer, Heidelberg:  Springer-Verlag, 2007.

    Fenster, Della D.  "Leonard Dickson, History of the Theory of Numbers," in Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics, 1640-1940, pp. 833-843, edited by Ivor Grattan-Guinness, Amsterdam:  Elsevier Press, 2005.

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