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Thomas Francis Banchoff, 1999-2000 MAA President

Born: April 7, 1938

Thomas Francis Banchoff is a professor of mathematics at Brown University. He specializes in geometry and the use of computer graphics in teaching and research.

Presidency: 1999-2000

In March 1999, Banchoff and a planning group suggested expanding the MAA mission statement from "To advance the mathematical sciences, especially at the collegiate level" to

To promote communication, teaching and learning, and research in mathematics and its uses, especially at the collegiate level, for all who are interested in the mathematical sciences.

Banchoff gave the first Leitzel Lecture, on "Teaching Stages," on August 1, 1999. He and Davide Cervone designed the interactive Mathematics Awareness Month 2000 poster.

Education and Career

1960 University of Notre Dame, B.A.
1962 University of California, Berkeley, M.A.
1964 University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.

Banchoff has been a professor at Brown University since 1967. He won the MAA's Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics (1996) and a Lester R. Ford Award (1978) for expository writing. He has served as an associate editor of Mathematics Magazine (1978-81) and an associate editor of the American Mathematical Monthly (1982-85).

Banchoff and his work were featured in a 1984 Newsweek article, "Images of Hyperspace." One of Banchoff's favorite books, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, was made into a movie in 2007, and he served on the consultant board for the movie. Banchoff wrote the introduction for the movie edition of the book, published in 2008. He is also interested in the life of Flatland's author Edwin A. Abbott.

A Conference to Celebrate the 65th year of Thomas F. Banchoff: A Man of Many Dimensions was held in 2003.

External Resources

Faculty webpage at Brown University (new version)

About Tom Banchoff

Research profile at Brown University

"Passing the Scepter: Thoughts from a Departing President" (pdf), March 2001 MAA FOCUS

"Tom Banchoff: Multidimensional Mathematician" (pdf), February 1996 Math Horizons

60th Birthday Web Site

The Mathematics Genealogy Project

"Focus on the Future: A New President Looks Ahead," MAA FOCUS, Volume 19, Number 3, page 3