2014 Mathematical Association of America
Certificate for Meritorious Service
Citation to

Lowell Beineke

Dr. Lowell Beineke of Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) has been one of Indiana Section's most committed leaders and has always been willing to lead the section and to support other individuals as they work for the section. In addition to his terms as Vice-Chair and Chair of the Section from 1986 through 1988, he has completed a term as the Section's Governor, holding that office from 1990 through 1993. Since then, he has continued to be an active participant in the Indiana Section.

At the national level, Lowell's service as Editor of the College Mathematics Journal has impacted both the MAA and the entire mathematics community. Lowell's hard work maintained the journal's high standards. Lowell has served his department as a superbly effective classroom teacher, receiving the Indiana Section's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997. The Section has recognized this many other times in the past by selecting him to be an invited speaker at the Section meetings. He has also been an MAA Visiting Lecturer, and published articles in both the American Mathematical Monthly and the College Mathematics Journal. Lowell has given invited addresses to MAA Section meetings across the country, and has served the MAA as a member of the Committee on Lester R. Ford Awards.

IPFW has named two awards after him: the L. W. Beineke Scholarship for undergraduate mathematics majors, and the L. W. Beineke Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Liberal Arts and Sciences, a service award for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Biographical Note

Lowell Beineke is the Schrey Professor of Mathematics at IPFW, where he has worked since earning his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1965. His undergraduate study was at Purdue University. He is author of over a hundred papers in graph theory; the eighth book that he has edited with Robin Wilson appeared in 2012. He served as Editor of the College Mathematics Journal from 2004 to 2008 and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Graph Theory and the International Journal of Graph Theory for many years. He has presented papers and attended workshops in India, Japan, China, Thailand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Egypt, as well as a number of European countries. While on sabbatical at Oxford University, he has three times been a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College.

Beineke has been the recipient of numerous honors, including being the first person to receive both the Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Service Awards from the Indiana Section. He has received both the Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Research Awards from IPFW, and has been admitted into Purdue University's Book of Great Teachers. In 2012, the College of Arts and Sciences at IPFW instituted an award for outstanding contributions to the arts and sciences in his name, and presented him with the first medal.

Response from Lowell Beineke

Some years ago, my major professor said to a small group of our friends, "You need to listen to Lowell even when he doesn't say anything." I feel that this is one of the times when I wouldn't mind if people knew what I meant without my having to say it. It is not easy, in fact it is impossible, for me to express in words my reaction to receiving this award. Nor can I begin to thank even a small fraction of those individuals who helped me into and through my career in mathematics. Included in the group to whom I continue to be grateful is the professor at Purdue who, when I was a graduating senior, included me among those who were given membership in the MAA. My active involvement in the Indiana Section began early in my career at IPFW when my department head suggested that I give a talk at a Section meeting. Both the national organization and the Indiana Section have been an important part of my academic life, and I am indeed honored to be representing the members of the Indiana Section today. Finally, I don't know that my wife, daughter, and son appreciate the view of my professor that I should be listened to even when I don't say anything. To compensate for those times when I may not have adequately expressed my gratitude, I thank them now for their continued support, including coming along to all those conferences. I gratefully accept this honor, which I think recognizes them along with my teachers, my colleagues and peers, and my students.

There is a news page at PFW with links to more photos and further information on the 2014 MAA awards.