Jim Hefferon Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Statistics

Jim Hefferon

Bio

B.S., M.S., Ph.D. University of Connecticut

My background is in Mathematical Logic, in the Theory of Computation.

Courses I Teach:

  • Elementary Statistics, ST 120
  • Linear Algebra, MA 213
  • Theory of Computing, MA 208
  • Numerical Methods, MA 305

Research

My background is in Mathematical Logic, in the Theory of Computation. Most of my professional activity has been in Free systems. For instance, I have a number of texts that are Free, including Linear Algebra and Introduction to Proofs. I also hosted at St Mike’s the web site for the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network for more than a decade. I am still active with the TeX Users Group, currently serving as Vice President.

Recent News

Jim Hefferon of the mathematics faculty has received the Daniel Solow Author’s Award for 2020 from the Mathematical Association of America. It recognizes authors of teaching materials for their impact on undergraduate education in mathematics. The award was to have been given at the MAA MathFest later this month but because of COVID-19 that has been canceled.  The citation for the award describes Jim’s text Linear Algebra, which has been available since 1996 online.  It covers material that is required of every mathematics major in the country and that is a prerequisite to areas such as machine learning and quantum computing. The citation pointed to the quality of the presentation of information and celebrated the fact that it is free to access.
(posted February 2021)

more on this from an earlier post by Jim:

I have written a number of undergraduate textbooks that are Free.  These include Linear Algebra, Introduction to Proofs, and Theory of Computation (which I am now finishing).  This activity won the 2020 Solow Award from the Mathematical Association of America for its impact on undergraduate education in mathematics.

As an outgrowth of that activity, I became interested in Free Software, specifically with LaTeX, including being President of the TeX Users Group. I also hosted  and ran the web site for the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network for more than a decade.

That involved a lot of web programming, so I have lot of practical experience in computation as well as a theoretical background.

Awards and Recognitions

2020 Solow Award from the Mathematical Association of America

Interview

Life Off Campus:

I like to jog, and I run one marathon each year. I also like to do Morse code as KE1AZ.  I spend way too much time hacking around with Internet programming, and with Linux and Scheme. And, my Erdös-Bacon number is 2.