Department of
Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Gail Gliner was a member of the Mathematical Sciences faculty from 1982 until her retirement in 2003.  Her many accomplishments include:  1) she served the Department as a member or as chair or co-chair of the Mathematics Education group from its beginning in the 1980’s; 2) she conducted research in mathematics Education in the 1980’s that led to several publications and presentations; 3) she was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Education in Mathematics and Science at U.C. Berkeley in Fall, 1991; 4) she served the mathematics community as Chair of the Rocky Mountain section of the Mathematical Association of America; 5)  she actively participated in Math Day, including chairing the event for two years; 6) she helped develop the senior experience course in Math History and taught it many times; 7) she was the evaluator for three national Science Foundation collaborative grants with the schools; 8) she served on numerous college-wide committees; 9) she was Interim Associate Dean in Letters, Arts, and Sciences in 2002-2003; and 10) she spent untold hours advising and helping students.

Professor Earl E. Hasz, taught in the Mathematical and Computer Sciences Department for thirty-nine years, seeing Metropolitan State College of Denver through its many ups and downs; he was Chairman of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences for three years; he was Chairman of the Council of Chairs for two years; he had been a Faculty Senator for many years and on many of its committees, Chairing several; he was Newsletter editor for several years and then President of the Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics for two years; he was the original author of the Mathematics Secondary Education major (which stayed effectively unchanged from 1969 through 1997); and he retrained in Computer Science and taught in that area when the Department was unable to hire computer science faculty.

Frieda Koster Holley was a member of the Mathematical Sciences faculty from 1975 until 1996.  Her accomplishments include:   1) she was active in the Rocky Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America, serving as chair of the Section and chair and/or member of other committees from 1976-1994, 2) she served as Director of Program Evaluation from 1987 to 1996, 3) she was active in the Faculty Senate from 1980 until 1991, 4) she served as Faculty Advisor to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education councils and committees from 1989-1994, 5) she helped establish the Faculty Club and served on the Auraria Faculty Club Board of Directors from 1984-1993, and as its treasurer from 1987-1993, 6)  she served as Co-Advisor of the Golden Key National Honor Society from 1986-1995, 7) she served as the Self-Study Coordinator for Metropolitan State College of Denver’s reaccreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools from 1995-1997 and continued to serve as Metropolitan State College of Denver’s liaison to North Central Association until her retirement, 8) she served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for Curriculum and Programs from 1996 until her retirement, 9) she was a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the Association of Women in Mathematics, the Society of the Sigma Xi and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 10) she was recognized by Metropolitan State College of Denver with the Distinguished Service Award in 1988-89 and the Outstanding Woman Award in 2001

Dr. LeJeune has served Metro State with distinction since he arrived as a faculty member in 1999.  Noel was tenured and promoted in 2007 and officially retired in May 2011.  Dr. LeJeune is a wonderful teacher and has always received high ratings in his teaching evaluations.  His scholarly activity has been exceptional, highlighed by his position as Principal Investigator for a $280,000 Colorado Institute of Tehcnology grant.  Noel has been a departmental star in Service, first as the leader in obtaining and later retaining ABET accreditation for the Computer Science Program.  He also served as Department Chair from 2007-2010, earning the respect of his peers for his astute departmental leadership.

Charlotte Wallace Murphy was a member of the Department serving in various capacities with excellence in many ways from 1977 until her retirement in 2004. Her accomplishments include: 1) she served as Coordinator of the Statistics program from 1978 until 1984, 2)  during the period from 1978 until 1984 she demonstrated interest and expertise beyond statistics by teaching both mathematics and computer science curriculum for majors in those fields and co-authoring a text with national sales entitled Intermediate Algebra, 3)  she consulted extensively with business and the State of Colorado on issues involving statistics from 1978 until 1992, 4)  from 1984 until 1986 she served as Faculty Assistant to the President at MSCD with responsibilities in marketing, communications, athletics, and equal opportunity, 5)  from 1987 until 1991 she served as Assistant Vice President and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at MSCD with responsibilities in Institutional Research, Information Technology, Academic Assessment and Support Services, and the Honors Program, 6)  she served as Chair of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences from 1992 until 2004, 7)  over the years she served on and/or chaired many Departmental, Faculty Senate, College-sponsored, or Presidential committees, 8) she was High Chair of the Council of Chairs from 1994-2004, 9) she held membership variously in the AMS, MAA, CCTM, and CCSC, 10) she was recognized by MSCD with the Distinguished Service Award in 2001.

Dr. Jon Plachy served MSCD as the first Chair of the Division of Science and  Mathematics from 1965 until 1972, and was coordinator of the mathematics program from 1965 until 1969, developing the first mathematics major and minor programs for the Department.  He wrote a textbook, Elements of Algebra, published in 1968 by Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, Inc., instigated the first departmental Math Day which ran from 1967 until 1970, and was heavily involved in the Math Club and the Circle K Club.  He served on many committees in the College including the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Curriculum Committee, the Academic Standards Board, and the Faculty Senate,.  He was one of the three founding fathers of the Athletic Program at MSCD and served as the first basketball coach and tennis coach on a volunteer basis.

Dr. Nancy Thompson received in 1970, a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Topology) from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, one of the top ten mathematics departments in the United States.  She came to MSCD that year and, except for two years of teaching and research at the University of Colorado – Boulder, was a member of the Department specializing in the most difficult part of the curriculum until her retirement in 2000.  She taught the theoretical mathematics courses including Mathematical Proofs, Abstract Algebra I & II, Advanced Calculus, Foundations of Geometry, and History of Mathematics.   Dr. Thompson's superior background in mathematics, exceptional teaching, and both interest in and kindness to students made her a role model for students, most especially female students, her entire career.  Dr. Thompson was for 15 years a mainstay of the Mathematics Education program making sure students had fulfilled the mathematics of the major as well as the appropriate GPA before student teaching.  During 1998-99 she served with distinction as the Assistant Chair of the Department.

Ruth Yarar was a member of the Mathematics faculty from 1982 until her retirement in 2006.  Her accomplishments include: 1) she served as chair or co-chair of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences recruitment committee continuously from 198 to her retirement, 2) she taught Statistics and conducted research in the field, 3) since 1986 she was the coordinator of and impassioned champion of part time faculty and tutors, 4) from its beginnings in the 1990’s, she actively participated in Math Day, including chairing the event for one year, 5) she served for six years as one of the department’s faculty senators, 6) she served on numerous college-wide committees, 7)  she started the group learning sessions in 1990, 8) she spent untold hours advising students, 9) she gave of her free time selflessly as a mentor to the younger faculty members.