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Show " S : j-V*K XT ,r:;^:.KvS«^- %cf# m IP ill Siwi^ Sj&Klj' ill DON TUCKER "formal theorems aren't worth a damn" "Don't ever trust anyone. Not even your papa," warns professor of mathematics Don H. Tucker. Students of mathematics, who must learn to challenge every statement of a formal proof, discover that Dr. Tucker is a master of classroom harassment. Well-armed with countless illustrative examples ("Let me draw a picture: formal theorems aren't worth a damn. It's the ideas that are important.") and a talent to tie loose ends into a meaningful whole, he stimulates lively interchanges among his students. With a teaching load that includes a graduate analysis class, honors calculus, and a graduate seminar, he combines spontaneous humor with a total grasp of his field to make learning an easy process, if such is possible. A double asset to the department, soon after his appointment to the faculty in 1958 Dr. Tucker became one of an unofficial three-man recruiting force which helped expand the mathematics faculty from fourteen in 1963 to a well-balanced thirty-one regular staff today. 129 |