Dr. Eve Torrence
Education:
Associate Professor of Mathematics, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va., 1994 - current
Associate Professor of Mathematics, Trinity College, Washington, D.C. 1991 - 1994
Tufts University, B.A. in mathematics and philosophy, 1985
University of Virginia, M.A. and PhD, mathematics, 1988 and 1991
Service to the profession. Past Chair for Maryland-Washington D.C.-Virginia regional chapter of Mathematical Association of America. Council member of Pi, Mu Epsilon national mathematical honor society.
Origami isn’t the first thing one links to a professor of mathematics. But it’s become Dr. Eve Torrence’s trademark at Randolph Macon – a way to combine the complicated theories of math with the inspiration and aesthetics of art. She has used it to foster student research as well as teach a course popular among her students. An author and lecturer as well as professor, Dr. Torrence embraces liberal arts as the ideal education that, like origami, brings different disciplines together for amazing results. She points to the many opportunities at Randolph-Macon available to math — and non-math — majors in and out of the sciences and revels in the knowledge that her students can do anything, go anywhere!
I came as part of a pair to Randolph-Macon. My husband, Dr. Bruce Torrence, is also a professor of mathematics at the College. We were taken by the easy-going Randolph-Macon community: its small size, the excellent faculty and relationships we saw we could build with students, as well as its location near Richmond and Washington, D.C. We moved to Randolph-Macon 13 years ago.
I have been fascinated with origami for the past few years – as much for its mathematical ideas as for its aesthetics. I got my PhD in geometry and algebra, so origami appeals to me because it is very geometric. Origami provided a way to blend one of my students’ interests in math and art, so I encouraged her to investigate this ancient art from a mathematical perspective. That developed into a summer-long research project that was part of Randolph-Macon’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and culminated in her giving a presentation at the Mathematics Association of America’s summer conference in San Jose, Calif.
Including students in research is encouraged at R-MC and made possible because Randolph-Macon is a small liberal arts college, which allows professors to work closely with their students. I’ve enjoyed sharing my interests by being involved in that research, and I also value the connections and friendships made not only in the classroom but also through working with students in special programs like SURF.
Less known than origami is another interest of mine that I use in my teaching: a mostly-forgotten method for computing determinants devised by Charles Dodgson, a.k.a. Lewis Carroll – the author of Alice in Wonderland, whose day job was teaching mathematics at Oxford University. It’s a nifty method and interesting for students because while they learn about determinants in linear algebra, Dodgson’s method is not taught in modern classes. I enjoyed co-authoring a paper on Dodgson’s method with fellow Randolph-Macon math professor, Adrian Rice. We won a prestigious award for this paper, which has sparked some interest in teaching this method more widely.
I also co-authored a book with my husband on a mathematical software program called Mathematica. Almost any computation a mathematician can do, can be done by Mathematica. But one needs to know the theory behind what any software does. Our book enables students to understand Mathematica by introducing it through the material a student would encounter in pre-calculus, calculus and linear algebra. Following the success of our first edition in 1999, and in order to keep up with changing technology, we are now working on a second edition that will be out next spring.
I am very close to my math students and enjoy knowing they have the opportunity through Randolph-Macon’s liberal arts program to explore additional academic interests like art and music. Math combines very well with other majors, not only in the sciences but in the humanities and social sciences as well. That’s why math students frequently double major. The skills that we develop and learn through the language of math relate to many and varied fields. Students can take those skills to law, medicine, business, computer science and beyond and are highly desired employees because they are well-rounded problem solvers. A liberal arts education truly develops these skills in students of any major, not just mathematics, because it requires that they investigate different disciplines. Students gain in-depth experience in a variety of subjects and are well-prepared for their next step. They have been taught the how to think.