The Nitty-Gritty in the Life of a University

About the Book

An esteemed professor and one-time chairman of the mathematics department at New York’s Pace University, Adams, interested in all facets of university administration, has produced an almost Jeffersonian volume of correspondence from his tenure.

His views on textbook selection, collective bargaining and the proper role of the university have all flowed from his notebook, and no problem was too minute to evade his
scope — The frivolity of some of these papers is balanced by Adams’s opinions on weightier issues, including sexual harassment and compensation in higher education.

His approach and forward manner on these situations, despite how genuine, sometimes engendered resentment from his fellow faculty.

But for those interested in the particulars of an academic career, this book offers a glimpse of what life may really be like inside the ivory tower.


- Kirkus Discoveries-

About the Author

William J. Adams, Professor of Mathematics at Pace University, is a recipient of Pace’s Outstanding Teacher Award. He was Chairman of the Pace N.Y. Mathematics Department from 1976 through 1991. Professor Adams is author or co-author of over twenty books on mathematics, its applications, and history, including Elements of Linear Programming (1969), Calculus for Business and Social Science (1975), Fundamentals of Mathematics for Business, Social and Life Sciences (1979), Elements of Complex Analysis (1987), Get a Grip on Your Math (1996), Slippery Math in Public Affairs: Price Tag and Defense (2002) and Think First, Apply MATH, Think Further: Food for Thought (2005), The Life and Times of the Central Limit Theorem Second Edition(2009). His concern with the slippery side of math and what math can do for us and its limitations is a prominent feature of his writings on applications. Concerning higher education in general, he is the author of The Nifty-Gritty in the Life of a University (2007).