The history of UCSD as an outgrowth of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is documented in the book An Improbable Venture, but there is little to be found there about the Mathematics Department.

The campus was first conceived in the late 1950s as a graduate and research Institute of Technology and Engineering. The new school was to provide instruction and research in mathematics, physics, chemistry, the earth and biological sciences, and engineering. The first faculty appointment was made in July 1957. The original plans were soon expanded into a more general campus under the leadership of Roger Revelle, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and in 1959, the UC Regents approved the University of California, La Jolla. A year later, the campus was renamed the University of California, San Diego and its first graduate students were enrolled.

UCSD admitted its first undergraduate students in 1964, the year after the Mathematics Department was formed. The founder of the Mathematics Department was Stefan E. Warschawski, a complex analyst who had been Mathematics Department Chair at the University of Minnesota. The Mathematics Department's special Stefan E. Warschawski Visiting Assistant Professorship, the first appointment to which was made in 1980, is named in his honor. This named assistant professorship was originally a 2-year term and was extended to a 3-year term in 2006.

The Mathematics Department's first year was largely devoted to the recruitment of faculty and preparation of graduate and undergraduate curricula, but some graduate instruction was offered. In September 1964, the Mathematics Department started full-fledged operation with six professors and two assistant professors, approximately 30 graduate students, and an entering class of 181 undergraduates (freshmen). On February 1, 1965, the Mathematics Department's programs for instruction leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics were approved.

The graduate program in 1964-65 provided basic full-year courses in real and complex analysis, modern algebra and topology, a year course on Methods of Applied Mathematics, and one on Numerical Analysis. In addition, seminars on algebra, topology, and functional analysis were conducted for advanced students. A weekly colloquium was held and frequent special lectures by visiting lecturers, especially in connection with recruitment of additional faculty, were given.

The Mathematics Department began the year 1965-66 with a considerably expanded staff of 12 regular and five visiting (or acting) members of all professorial ranks. All senior members of the Mathematics Department had federal research grants. The graduate program was expanded by additional courses in partial differential equations, functional analysis, and probability. A program providing for the undergraduate major in mathematics and service courses to other fields was offered.

Click to see the Math Faculty in 1968

The Mathematics Department was originally housed in Urey Hall on the Revelle campus, and moved to what was called Building 2A-2A' (now labeled the Applied Physics and Mathematics (AP&M) building) on the Muir campus in July 1969. The Mathematics Department offices currently occupy the entire 7th and 6th floors of AP&M, in addition to parts of the 5th, 2nd, 1st, and Basement floors. Additional offices were added in the nearby Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) building in September 2022.

A photographic and narrative history of the modernist architectural design used for Muir campus buildings such as AP&M is detailed on the The History of UC San Diego website, on the John Muir College website, on the Planning, Design and Construction website, on the Modern San Diego website, and in the The Campus Guide: University of California, San Diego book.

In the following lists, years run from July 1 to June 30. An appointment listed during a year means that the appointment became effective during that year, normally July 1, and a departure listed during a year means that the person left at some time during the year, normally June 30. The list of teaching visitors is somewhat suspect, as the records are difficult to trace in many cases.

 

Department Chairs

Service Term	Department Chair
2023-Present	Michael Holst
2020-2023	James McKernan
2016-2020	Lei Ni
2010-2016	Peter Ebenfelt
2006-2010	Samuel Buss
2004-2006	Bruce Driver
2002-2004	James Bunch
1998-2002	Jeffrey Remmel
1994-1998	Michael Sharpe
1990-1994	Harold Stark
1986-1990	Thomas Enright
1981-1986	Hubert Halkin
1977-1981	Burton Rodin
1973-1977	Donald Anderson
1971-1973	Jaap Korevaar
1968-1971	Helmut Rohrl
1967-1968	Murray Rosenblatt
1963-1967	Stefan Warschawski

 

Changes in Personnel