Charles Dwight Lahr facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Charles Dwight Lahr
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| Born |
Charles Dwight Lahr
February 6, 1944 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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| Died | December 26, 2016 (aged 72) Lyme, New Hampshire, United States
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Temple University Syracuse University |
| Known for | First tenured African-American professor of mathematics at an Ivy League college |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Functional analysis, Harmonic Analysis on Groups and Semigroups, Banach Algebras, Educational Computing |
| Institutions | Dartmouth College |
| Doctoral advisor | Lawrence James Lardy |
Charles Dwight Lahr (born February 6, 1944 – died December 26, 2016) was an important American mathematician. He was the first African-American professor to get a permanent teaching position (called "tenure") in mathematics at an Ivy League university. He also held many leadership roles at the university.
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Early Life and Education
Dwight Lahr was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He went to Central High School in his hometown. After high school, he attended Temple University. In 1966, he earned his bachelor's degree in math from Temple University. He was a very good student and was part of Phi Beta Kappa, which is a special honor society.
He continued his studies at Syracuse University. He earned his master's degree (M.A.) in 1968. Then, in 1972, he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics. His Ph.D. paper was about complex math topics like "Approximate identities and multipliers."
Career at Dartmouth College
After working at Bell Labs for a short time, Dr. Lahr joined Dartmouth College in 1975. Dartmouth College is a famous Ivy League university. He started as an assistant professor.
- In 1981, he became an associate professor.
- He also took on leadership roles, like associate dean for the sciences.
- He became the dean of graduate studies, helping students who were working on their master's and Ph.D. degrees.
- By 1984, he was a full professor and the dean of the faculty. This was a very important position.
Helping Others with Computers
Dr. Lahr was also passionate about helping others learn about computers. In 1994, he started and directed a special summer program. It was called "CLIPP."
- CLIPP was a summer institute at Dartmouth.
- Its goal was to help public school teachers from inner cities.
- It taught them how to use computers better.
- The program also gave computer equipment to these teachers.
Later Years and Legacy
Dr. Lahr retired from Dartmouth College in 2014. He had a long and successful career there. He passed away on December 26, 2016.
To honor his contributions, Dartmouth College started something special in 2021. They began the C. Dwight Lahr Lecture series. This series celebrates his work and legacy at the university.
