Pink Floyd and the Pythagorean Theorem aren’t related - but Peter Bates, the new chairman of the Department of Mathematics, has experience with both.
Between studying math books and taking tests at the University of London in the 1960s, Bates booked the rock band for a campus activity.
“The student union wasn’t putting on any events so my friends and I took it upon ourselves and booked Pink Floyd,” he said. “It was an outstanding success.”
And Bates expects to have similar success as the department chairman.
Before arriving at MSU in January, Bates was a math professor and lab director at Brigham Young University in Utah. He began interviewing for the chairman position last year and said Spartan life immediately grew on him.
But it is different than Utah and his home town of Manchester, England, he said.
“Michigan is flat, Utah’s not, but we both have snow,” he said. “I don’t get time to go home much because when I go to England I generally visit universities.”
Bates said MSU differs from BYU in many ways.
“MSU is a stronger university as far as the graduate programs are concerned,” he said. “It’s a larger and more diverse community. That’s appealing.”
There were several reasons Bates chose to come to MSU, but he is most pleased with his peers.
“It’s the vitality of the faculty,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed with the dean of the College of Natural Science. The dean and the provost were very influential in my decision to come here.”
Bates said he will continue to review intermediate mathematics courses that have been scrutinized in recent years.
During spring semester 2001, the average grades were 1.55 for students enrolled in MTH 1825 and 2.09 in MTH 103.
“We recognize that we have to cater to all students regardless of their preparation,” he said. “We put a lot of resources into the very basic courses because we recognize some students need intermediate classes and we care about those students.”
Bates said the department is continuously monitoring students’ progress.
“We will always get complaints,” he said. “People have a hard time taking responsibility for their own performance and occasionally there will be truth in their complaints. We always take complaints seriously.”
MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon said she is looking forward to working with Bates.
“I met Dr. Bates during the interview process and was immediately impressed with his vision for a first-rate department,” she said. “He is an engaged and engaging scholar who is deeply committed to undergraduate teaching and can promote scholarship including the connections of mathematics with areas such as biology.”
And MSU math Professor Jonathan Hall said Bates possesses characteristics that will push the department in the right direction while featuring the department’s many strengths.
“He’s enthusiastic, active and he starts off on good footing with everybody,” he said. “He’s quite dedicated to education at all levels. He can bring new ideas to the faculty and administration and can affect some changes while emphasizing good qualities the department has already.”
Hall said although Bates arrived during the middle of the year, he thinks the new chairman has already begun accepting and beating challenges.
“He showed up right around the time where the budget and hiring has to be prepared,” he said. “But under the circumstances, he has been doing very well.”
Journalism freshman Marshall Weinbaum, said the Department of Mathematics will benefit from a new chairperson. Weinbaum dropped MTH 110 this semester because he said it was nearly impossible for him to complete. He plans to take it again when he has fewer classes.
“They need to take a look at the curriculum to see what these kids can handle, see what high schools are teaching in math,” Weinbaum said. “The problem isn’t just the students, it’s not just the department and it’s not just the teachers.
“If they keep having the same chairperson, how can any problems get fixed? They have new blood in the system. With so many complaints and people dropping math and taking it at a community college, MSU is not benefiting.”
