Bruce Torrence is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Randolph-Macon College, where he has worked since 1993. After completing his Ph.D. in pure mathematics at the University of Virginia, he served two years as a visitor at Georgetown University before coming to R-MC. His dissertation is in cobordism theory, a branch of algebraic topology. His masters and bachelors degrees are from the University of Maryland and Tufts University, respectively. Research interests include algebraic topology, graph theory, and combinatorics. He especially enjoys realizing visualizations of abstract mathematical ideas from these disciplines.
Professional offices and recognition include:
- Art Exhibition co-chair with Robert Fathauer for the Bridges Conference (on mathematical connections in art, music, architecture, education, and culture), 2020-present.
- Chair, Anneli Lax New Mathematical Library Editorial board, Mathematical Association of America, 2022-present.
- Garnett Professor of Mathematics, R-MC, 2009-2019.
- Program co-chair and Proceedings co-editor with Eve Torrence for the Bridges Conference, 2018 (Stockholm, Sweden) and 2016 (Jyväskylä, Finland).
- Chair, Dept. of Mathematics, R-MC, 2000-2018.
- Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Professor Award, R-MC, 2017.
- The article “The fundamental theorem of algebra for artists,” coauthored with Bahman Kalantari, was included in The Best Writing on Mathematics 2014 . This article first appeared in Math Horizons (April 2013, pp 26–29).
- Organized Mathematics Awareness Month 2014 with Eve Torrence and Colm Mulcahy.
- A pair of articles on stereographic photography, coauthored with David Swart, were included in The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012.
- Co-editor of Math Horizons, 2009 – 2013.
- John M. Smith award for excellence in mathematics teaching, Mathematical Association of America, 2008.
- Coauthor, with Prof. Eve Torrence, of The Student’s Introduction to Mathematica and the Wolfram Language, published by Cambridge University Press. The third edition was published in 2019.
- Co-director of the Honors Program at Randolph-Macon, 1997-2000.
- Recipient: NSF Grant for the creation of a computer classroom for the Mathematics Department, 1996.