Richard W. Sampson Lecture
The Annual Richard W. Sampson Lecture Series
“Given by colleagues, students and friends of Professor Richard W. Sampson to establish an annual lecture in mathematics. The gift is given upon his retirement to honor Professor Sampson’s thirty eight years of teaching at Bates and his long involvement and commitment to the Outing Club.” (1990)
Thanks to the Sampson Lecture funds, we have been able to enjoy many great presentations by well known mathematical people for a number of years. The photo to the right was taken at the 2001 Sampson lecture. Pictured are Dick Sampson, George Andrews, Peter Wong and Warren Johnson.
Richard Sampson passed away on April 1, 2004. To read the Bates news story about Dick and his contributions to the College, click here.
| Lecturer | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Bradley University of Colorado Boulder | 09/30/2026 | “A Brief Tour of Chaos Theory” |
| Carol Schumacher, Kenyon College | 09/29/2025 | “All Tangled Up” |
| Ismar Volić, Wellesley College | 10/10/2024 | “Mathematical Foundations of Democracy: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation“ |
| Abba Gumel, University of Maryland | 12/4/2023 | “Mathematics of Malaria Transmission Dynamics” |
Mike Hill, UCLA | 3/30/2022 | “The Shape of Social Justice” |
Francis Su, Harvey Mudd College | 3/9/2021 | “Mathematics for Human Flourishing” |
|
Rochelle Gutierrez, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
10/3/2019 | “Rehumanizing Mathematics: What Might it Mean for Our Future?” |
|
Carlos Castillo-Chavez, Arizona State University |
9/27/2018 |
“Challenges and Opportunities in Mathematical and Theoretical and Computational Epidemiology” |
| George Em Karniadakis, Brown University | 11/2/2017 | “Multiscale Modeling of Hematological Disorders” |
| Suzanne Weekes, Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 11/30/2016 | “Leaning Out: Connecting Outside the Ivory Tower” |
| Jill Pipher, Brown University | 3/17/2016 | “Cryptography: From Antiquity to Modern Times” |
| Michael Starbird, University of Texas at Austin | 10/30/2014 | “The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking“ |
| Leila C. Schneps, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu | 2/26/2014 | “Math on Trial: Probability in the Judicial Process“ |
| Colin C. Adams, Williams College | 9/26/2012 | “Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing“ |
| Washington Mio, Florida State University | 9/22/2011 | “The Mathematics of Shape in Computer Vision, Biology, Medical Imaging, and More“ |
| Paul Nahin, University of New Hampshire | 3/25/2011 | “How Computers Can Help Answer Mathematical Questions“ |
| Robert P. Moses, Founder and President of the Algebra Project | 12/2/2009 | “Quality Public School Education as a Constitutional Right“ |
| Ubiratan D’Ambrósio, State University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil | 9/18/2008 | “Ethnomathematics in a Global World“ |
| Ruth Charney, Brandeis University | 3/14/2008 | “From Robotics to Geometry: Building Models with Cubes“ |
| Jennifer Quinn, The Association for Women in Mathematics | 11/10/2006 | “Fabulous Fibonacci Numbers“ |
| Lisette de Pillis, Harvey Mudd College | 10/13/2005 | “Cancer Growth and Treatment Modeling“ |
| Jeff Weeks, Freelance Mathematician | 10/28/2004 | “Shape of Space” |
| De Witt Sumners, Florida State University | 10/8/2003 | “Calculating the Secrets of Life: Mathematics in Biology and Medicine” |
| Georgia Benkart, University of Wisconsin-Madison | 10/23/2002 | “Women Mathematicians I Haven’t Known“ |
| George Andrews, Penn State University | 10/8/2001 | “Ramanujan, Fibonacci Numbers, and Continued Fractions ~or~ Why I Took Zeckendorf’s Theorem Along On My Last Trip To Canada” |
| Peter Hilton, SUNY Binghamton | 9/20/2000 | “Code-breaking in World War II“ |
| Constance Reid, Mathematical Writer | 10/14/1999 | “Captured by Mathematics“ |
| Joan S. Birman, Columbia University | 3/16/1999 | “Knots in Mathematics“ |
| Carolyn S. Gordon, Dartmouth College | 2/26/1998 | “You Can’t Hear the Shape of a Drum” |
| Henri Darmon, McGill University | 1/29/1997 | “Fermat’s Last Theorem” |
| Howard Eves, University of Maine | 2/25/1996 | “The Book and the Beacon” |
| Kenneth P. Bogart, Dartmouth College | 3/15/1995 | “What do Mathematicians count and how do they do it?” |
| Johnny L. Houston, Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina | 3/24/1994 | “Underrepresented American Minorities in the Mathematical Sciences, 1925-1990” |
| Marilyn Durkin, ’71, Bentley College | 3/22/1993 | “The Mathematics of Chaos” |
| John McCleary, Vassar College | 2/10/1992 | “The History of Mathematics (Who Cares?)” |
| Kenneth C. Millett, University of California, Santa Barbara | 2/11/1991 | “All Tied Up in Knots (Knotting Theory in the Natural Sciences: Untangling some of the Knotty Mysteries of DNA)” |