James C. Kirby
kirby@tarleton.edu
Vita
Education
1978 Bachelor of Science in Mathematics,
1980 Master of Science in Mathematics,
1983 Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics,
Doctoral
Dissertation
”Admissible Variables and Extreme
Point Analysis”
Teaching Experience
1978-1983 Graduate
Teaching Assistant,
1983-1989 Assistant
Professor,
1989-1995 Associate
Professor,
1995-present Professor,
Awards
1986 Phi Eta
Sigma Distinguished Teaching Award
1998 Faculty Merit Plus Award
2000 Faculty Merit Plus Award
2002 Who’s Who Among
2002 O. A. Grant Award for Excellence in
Teaching
2002 Jack and Louise Arthur Award for
Excellence in Teaching
2004 Named a Regents Professor of the
Nominations for
Awards
1993 nominated for state Piper Professor
Award for Excellence in Teaching at the local level
1997 nominated for state Piper Professor
Award for Excellence in Teaching at the local level
2000 nominated for state Piper Professor
Award for Excellence in Teaching at the local level
2003 nominated for state Piper Professor
Award for Excellence in Teaching at the local level
2004 nominated for state Piper Professor
Award for Excellence in Teaching at the state level
Miscellaneous
Recognition
1997 Photo of teaching appeared in the
Tarleton State University Annual Report
Professional
Organizations
Mathematical Association of
Professional
Meetings Attended
1984 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
1984 Conference for
1985 Conference for
1986 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
1986 Conference for
1987 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
(
1987 Conference for
1991 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
1991 Calculus with Computer Algebra
Systems Short Course,
(
1992 International Conference for
1994 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
(
1995 Mathematics
Association of America section meeting at
1995 International Conference for
1996 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
1996 Distance Learning training at the
1998 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
1999 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
(
2001 Organizational meeting of TATME, an
initiative for technology in the mathematics classroom at
2002 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
2003 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
2005 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
2006 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
2007 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at
2008 Mathematics Association of America
section meeting at Stephenville,
Service
1984 Sponsored
students to Alpha Chi Regional Convention at
1985 Delegate for the Third Annual
Symposium of
1986 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
Regional Convention at
1986
1986 Elected Vice President of local
1987 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1987 Elected President of local
1987 Taught five Advanced Academic Training (AAT) Courses for
teachers
1988 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
Regional Convention at,
1988 Taught three Advanced Academic Training (AAT) Courses for
teachers
1989 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1989 Taught four Advanced Academic Training (AAT) Courses for
teachers
1990 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
Regional Convention at
1990 Conducted an in-service workshop for
the
1992 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
Regional Convention in
1992 Elected to a two year term as
Vice-President of Region I of Alpha Chi
(includes
1992 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1992 Taught three Advanced Academic
Training (AAT) courses for teachers
1993 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1993 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1993 Taught two Advanced Academic Training
(AAT) courses for teachers
1993 Graduate Advisor for MS in
Mathematics
1993 Graduation Speaker for
1994 Coordinated the Alpha Chi Regional
Convention at
1994 Elected to a two year term as President
of Region I of Alpha Chi
1994 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1995 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1995 Chapter received the
President’s Cup for being the outstanding chapter in the nation
1995 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1996 Sponsored
students to Alpha Chi Regional Convention in
1996 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1997 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1997 Graduation Speaker for
1997 Elected to a four year term on the 23
member National Council of Alpha Chi
1997 Served as a committee member to determine
the six winners (out of sixty applicants) of the Alfred H. Nolle
$1500 scholarships at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1997 Served as the chairman of the
committee to determine the winner (out of fifteen applicants) of the Joseph Pryor
$1000 Alumni scholarship at
1997 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1998 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
Regional Convention in
1998 National Council Meeting in
1998 Director of the Region II Regional
Number Sense competition
1999 Sponsored students to Alpha Chi
National Convention in
1999 Served as a committee member to
determine the six winners (out of fifty applicants) of the H. Y. Benedict $2500
scholarships at
2000 National Council Meeting in
2000 National Convention in
2007 Judge for 5th Annual Texas A&M University System Pathways Student Research Symposium at Tarleton Station University, November 2
2007 Commencement speaker for College of Agriculture and Human Sciences and College of Science and Technology, Tarleton State University, Fall semester
2008 Session Moderator at Faculty Paper session; Judge at Student Paper session (Texas Section Meeting)
Miscellaneous
Service
Write 5-10 reference letters each
semester
Administration
1990 Interim Department Head of the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Engineering at
Publications
1978 "Properties
of Quadratic Prime Generators", The Alpha Chi Recorder, Vol. 21,
1978, pp. 42-47.
1988 "An Efficient Logarithm Algorithm for
Calculators”, College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, May,
1988, pp. 257-260.
1992 "Rubberbanding and Holding
Out”, College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4, March, 1992,
pp. 148-149.
1996 "Fallacies, Flaws, and Flimflam: FFF # 101 (The
Disappearing Factor) and FFF # 102, (Why Integrate?)", College
Mathematics Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4, March, 1996, pp. 117-118. (subsequently referenced
in Vol. 30, No. 2, March 1999, p. 131)
1996 "Bargaining Theory, or Zeno's Used Cars", College
Mathematics Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4, September, 1996, pp. 285-286.
1999 "Fallacies, Flaws, and Flimflam: FFF #143 (One Step
Double Integration)", College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3,
May 1999, p. 209.
1999 "An Application of Number Theory", College
Mathematics Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, May 1999, p. 229.
2000 "Why Integrate?", pp. 108-109, "The
Disappearing Factor", p. 109 and "One-Step Double Integration",
pp. 119-120 in Mathematics Fallacies, Flaws, and Flimflam by Edward Barbeau, Spectrum Series, Published by the Mathematical
Association of America, 2000.
2001 "Powers Made Easy", College Mathematics Journal,
Vol. 32, No. 5, November 2001, p. 329.
(A correction was made in the March, 2002 issue of the journal:
p. 112)
2002 "The Sine of a Sum from the Law of Sines",
College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 33, No. 5, November 2002, p. 383
Journal Referee
1992 I refereed a paper for the College Mathematics Journal. My assessment to not publish the paper was consistent with the other referee. The editor in a letter to the person
submitting the article said that the publication rate was less than 10%.
Book Review
2004 Book review of chapters four and five for Pearson/Addison Wesley: Quantitative Literacy: Thinking Between the Lines by Bruce Crauder, Jerry Johnson, Alan Noell, and Benny Evans.
2007 Book review of the eighth edition of Trigonometry, by
Lial, Hornsby, and Schneider
Grants
1994 "Efficient
Algorithms for Calculators" The
results were presented at Texas Section of
1995 "Quantification
of the Parameter in the Simplex Algorithms Big-M Method"
Partial results, "Bargaining
Theory, on Zeno's Used Cars" was published in College Mathematics
Journal in 1996 and presented at the
1998 "An
Analysis of the Traveling Salesperson Problem"
Additional Research
1998 Worked ¼ time for the Texas Institute
for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER) doing modeling of water quality
Student Research
1993 Directed a master’s degree
research project for Delise Burrus
1996 Directed a master’s degree
research project for Drew Hickman
2000 Directed a master’s degree
research project for James Slack
Have served on seventeen
Master’s Degree oral exam committees
Presentations
1986 Guest
speaker at the Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society
induction ceremony,
1986 "Simple Solutions For Special Underdetermined
Systems", Presentation at the
1988 "Logarithm
Algorithms for Primitive Calculators", Invited Address at NMSU Centennial
Celebration, May 15, 1988 at
1995 "Efficient
Algorithms for Primitive Calculators", Presentation at the
1996 "Bargaining
Theory, or Zeno's Used Cars", Presentation at the
1998 "Teaching
Algebra to a Quadriplegic", Presentation at the
1999 “Differential
Equations, Difference Equations, and an Application to the Mathematics of
Finance”. Presentation at the
2002 “Improving Our Image in the (University)
Community”. Presentation at the
2003 Guest speaker at the Tarleton Alumni Academic Forum,
customarily done by the Jack and Louise Arthur Excellence in Teaching winner of
the previous year, March 2003
2006 “Using SMART Technology in the Mathematics
Classroom”. Presentation at the
2007 “Are the Hyperbolic Functions Really Correctly Named?”. Presentation at the Texas Section of the
Mathematical Association of America, April 2007, Edinburg, Texas (Pan American
State University)
Teaching Innovations
1993 First used computer
technology in the calculus classroom in an honors section of a calculus
course
1996 Taught a graduate course over distance; six local students and eighteen students at
2002 Taught a senior level problems course, Elementary Number
Theory, on-line using a web based blackboard and chat session
2006 Started
using SMART technology in the classroom and posting lecture notes on the
internet.
Committees
1987 University
1991 Search Committee for Head of Mathematics Department
1996
1996 Committee to determine student graduation speaker
1997
1997 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
1997 Employee Benefits Committee
1997 University Committee for the Disabled
1998 Southern Association Self Study Committee
1998
1998 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
1998 Chair, University Facility Improvement and Construction
Committee
1998 University Committee for the Disabled
1998 Chair, Employee Benefits Committee
1999 Merit Plus Committee
1999
1999 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
1999 Chair, Employee Benefits Committee
1999 Chair, University Facility Improvement and Construction
Committee
1999 Academic Standards Committee
1999 University Committee for the Disabled
2000
2000 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
2000 Academic Standards Committee
2000
2000 Chair, University Facility Improvement and Construction
Committee
2001
2001 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
2001 Chair, University Facility Improvement and Construction
Committee
2002 College of Science & Technology Promotion Tenure
Committee (elected)
2002 University Facility Improvement and Construction Committee
2003
College of Science & Technology Promotion Tenure
Committee (elected)
2003 University Facility Improvement and Construction Committee
2003 Search Committee for Director of General Studies
2004 Search Committee for faculty member at Tarleton Central Texas
2004 University Calendar Committee
2004
2005 Search Committee for
Assistant Dean
2005 Awards Committee for
Annual Service Awards
2005 University Calendar Committee
2005 Search Committee for
Faculty member at
2005
2006 Chair of Awards Committee
for Annual Service Awards
2006 University Calendar Committee
2006
2006 Subcommittee for Freshman Orientation
2007 Committee for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Responsibility
(elected)
2007 University Calendar Committee
2007
Community Service
Project Graduation Committee
Member, Donkey Basketball Co-Organizer
Stephenville High School Renaissance
Academic Program
Soccer Coach: two seasons each year for nine years
Baseball Coach: two years
Stephenville High School Athletic
club member for six years
Stephenville High School Band booster
club member for five years
Counselor and Director for the
Florida College Junior Summer Camp at Austin, Texas for thirteen years
Song leader, bible class teacher,
and part time preacher for Westside Church of Christ
Donated magic shows for many community
groups: Happy Days Day Care, Optimist
Club, Senior Citizens Center, MHMR, Lion’s Club, Pi Sigma Epsilon Teacher
Auction, Family Fun Fair
Have given a presentation three
times to the school system on the profession of a university professor
High School
Presentations
2006 Career Day at