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Show When asked what occupied most of his time out of the classroom, Dr. Taylor said, "Primarily just sitting around thinking about mathematics." His statement echoes the feelings of the rest of the faculty. One student, upon requesting a recommendation for graduate school from a highly regarded professor, received the warning that mathematics demands "almost a fierce dedication," sometimes to the exclusion of all other activities. Nevertheless, most of Dr. Taylor's thinking takes place at home in the evening. During the day he is caught up with meetings, paper work and many small distractions which sometimes make it difficult for him to maintain a train of thought. Dr. Taylor does most of his research at night in a small corner of his home. During the day he has to compete with too many distractions to develop the mood and concentration asked of a mathematician. Early in the year he worked with Dr. Jerome Sather to put together a leaflet to be sent to prospective graduate students. To capture their interest, Dr. Taylor and Dr. Sather had to describe not only the Department of Mathematics but also the attractions centered around the Salt Lake Valley. The Department holds a general faculty meeting on the average about once a month and sends out memoranda and questionaires quite frequently. Many times during the quarter there will be small meetings of perhaps three to six people to discuss changes in curricula, additions of new courses to the catalog, prospective new faculty members and other business. Most of the faculty belong to the American Mathematical Society, which holds a national convention each year and numerous regional conventions. Mathematicians from the University attend these conventions regularly. In the event that someone should have a paper he wishes to present, he will write to the directing committee in advance requesting that his paper be considered. Last year Dr. Taylor was flown to Chicago at the expense of the University to present one of several pieces of research whjch he has done. This year he will read another paper at the Houston convention. When he has a presentation to make, it is the custom of the Math Department to pay his way. Otherwise he picks up his own tab. Later on in the year he will attend a symposium at LSU to which he was invited some time ago. Research, feels Dr. Taylor, is an important part of teaching. At a time when many voices are criticizing the 'publish or perish' situation in colleges, one will often find that, since much of today's teaching is directly concerned with research, the person who doesn't do good research doesn't teach well. In the short time that he has been out of school, Dr. Taylor has published three papers and has two being examined for publication. At a meeting intended to design a course to fit between Advanced Calculus and Real Variables, Dr. Taylor listens to Prof. Don Tucker (not pictured.) Seated by Dr. Taylor are Prof. C. E. Burgess (left) and Dr. Keith Reed. The new course will be needed as a transition, so to speak. Real Variables is a graduate course which is rapidly changing and advancing, while Advanced Calculus is staying relatively static as an undergraduate course. 19 |