Season: 3 Episode: 6

Ron Buckmire - Math Professor, Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs

Guest: Ron Buckmire



In this episode, Ron and Arlene talk about the poor reputation that Math has among students and society, the novelty of a liberal arts education and the importance of developing mentor relationships.

We hope you enjoy the journey on today’s Pathway!

At Occidental College (Oxy) in LA, Ron Buckmire’s primary responsibility is the overall direction of the gen. ed. program, with several other academic initiatives reporting to him. Born in Grenada and raised for part of his youth in Barbados, Ron holds three degrees in mathematics (Ph.D., M.Sc. and B.Sc.) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He’s been on the Oxy faculty since 1994, serving as chair of the mathematics department twice and achieving the rank of Full Professor in 2014 after beginning his academic career there as a Minority Postdoctoral Scholar-in-Residence.  For a total of 4 years, Ron led the Division of Undergraduate Education at the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), heading the Scholarships in STEM program and curating the undergraduate mathematics education award portfolio.

In 2021, Ron co-edited the book ‘Improving Applied Mathematics Education’ (Springer Nature, 2021) and has published multiple peer-reviewed articles in an eclectic collection of journals. He is a passionate advocate for broadening the participation of historically excluded groups (especially LGBTQ+ individuals and racial/ethnic minorities) in mathematics and other STEM disciplines. He serves the broader math community in several capacities, such as Vice-President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at SIAM (the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics). Ron is also a co-founder and board member of Spectra, the association for LGBTQ+ mathematicians and their allies.

Show Notes:

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This episode of Pathways was produced by Arlene Hayes and Carolyn Harris for Grenadian STEAM Inc. and edited by Chemon Marryshow.

Your host is Arlene Hayes

Theme song produced by Andrew ‘Hitz’ Phillip


The thoughts and ideas expressed on this podcast episode are those of the host and her guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of, Grenadian STEAM or its members.

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