Ron Irving
Ron Irving is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at UW. After an early interest in astronomy, he decided at the age of eight to pursue mathematics. In high school, he attended summer programs in both mathematics and astronomy. Professor Irving received his A.B. degree in mathematics and philosophy at Harvard and his Ph.D. in mathematics at M.I.T. He joined the faculty at UW in 1980. In 1996, Professor Irving began teaching a course in abstract algebra for future secondary teachers of mathematics. Professor Irving's work with these students led to his receipt of a UW Distinguished Teaching Award in June, 2001. A month later, Professor Irving became department chair. As chair, he worked with Professor James Morrow to create SIMUW. After one year as chair, Professor Irving became Divisional Dean of Natural Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and four years later he became Interim Dean of the College. He is now back in the department and excited to be doing mathematics again.