TFBCON2003 (Students)

Deb Grossberg '03 Prof. Banchoff was my mentor, teacher, employer, and friend at Brown. After taking MA8, "The Mathematical Way of Thinking," with him my freshman year, I decided to be a math major, something that I had always thought might happen, but that I was also quite ambivalent about. For most people, my artistic inclinations seemed to contradict my mathematical ones, but Banchoff always knew how well they complemented one another. By allowing my interests to function together in the projects on which we worked, Banchoff gave me the confidence to pursue interdisciplinary study, a gift that I am still enjoying as I move toward a career in architecture, an extremely interdisciplinary profession. After I completed my final project for MA8 (a comic book about 4-dimensional geometry and Flatland available online), Banchoff asked me to come work for him over the summer. Under his instruction, I developed a curriculum for teaching calculus students to draw function graphs (also available online). I worked for Banchoff the next year as a calculus TA, and again my senior year as a TA for MA8. Banchoff also advised me on my senior math thesis, "Chaos Theory in Architecture". After graduation, I moved to New York, where I am currently working at The Architect's Newspaper as a writer and editor, and at Maya Stendhal Gallery, an art gallery in Chelsea, as an assistant director and curator. I am also still working for Banchoff, helping to illustrate a mathematical textbook. Eventually I hope to attend graduate school in architecture. Professor Banchoff's influence on my work continues to be strong. His wise advice and kind help have enabled me to address all of my interests in my intellectual life. — Deb Grossberg October 2003

TFBCON2003 Web Pages Created: 11 Oct 2003 Last modified: 26 Oct 2003 14:40:44 Comments to: dpvc@union.edu

Linda Gruendken '07 Student Assistants of TFB Robert Fairhead '04