Editor,
After the resignations of two of the six tenure-track faculty in the mathematics and statistics department, the Albuquerque Journal quoted Provost Suzanne Ortega as stating: “There’s absolutely no evidence to suggest that this particular loss of faculty or any other has diminished the quality of the instruction.” Wow! Even before they leave, she can predict that their departure will have no effect.
The darn thing is, Provost Ortega and Vice Provost Wynn Goering are in desperate need of mathematical assistance.
Last September, Ortega and Goering concocted an op-ed piece for the Albuquerque Journal that touted, erroneously, a “remarkable area of strength” for UNM: “for many years now Hispanic students have graduated from UNM at nearly twice the rate of Hispanics nationwide.” Not so. Not even close. UNM Hispanics graduate below (42 percent) the national rate (49 percent).
I met with Ortega and Goering and urged them to work with the Journal to publish a correction. Both struck me as innumerate and aloof. Their illogical and inappropriate use of sources and simple mathematical oversights would embarrass an undergraduate math student. Neither seemed concerned about their misuse of statistics and a correction was never published. Even if the Journal had declined to accommodate them on the editorial page, UNM could have printed the correction as an advertisement. According to Goering’s web page, one of his research areas is historical fiction. That much is believable. But what the administration needs is sound statistical and financial analysis, not fiction.
How many programs did Ortega, Goering and University President David Schmidly cut because they deluded themselves into thinking that Hispanics at UNM were graduating at twice the national rate? This strange disregard for sound statistics from the Office of the – Provost has now reached into the very heart of the mathematics and statistics department.
I fondly remember Cleve Moler, a popular UNM math professor in the late 1970s who is now a famous mathematician and entrepreneur. I don’t know when, or why, he left UNM — I believe he went to Stanford. Dr. Moler and others developed Matlab, a top-notch and very expensive math package used in the industry.
His company, MathWorks, now employs over 2,000. Their website states they have 1 million users. Moler has been president of Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Imagine if Dr. Moler had stayed at UNM. How many future Cleve Molers will bid UNM goodbye?
Provost Ortega and Vice Provost Goering should do the right thing for UNM and make apologies and counter-offers to assistant professors Michele Guindani and Curtis Storlie.
Vicki Johnson
Daily Lobo reader
