Della Jeanne Dumbaugh (also published as Della Dumbaugh Fenster) is an American mathematician and

historian of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the History of mathematical notation, mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples ...

, focusing on the history of

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

and

number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...

. She is a professor of mathematics at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

Education and career

Dumbaugh is originally from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. She joined the University of Richmond faculty after completing her Ph.D. in 1994 at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. Her dissertation, ''Leonard Eugene Dickson and His Work in the Theory of Algebra'', concerned the work of

Leonard Eugene Dickson Leonard Eugene Dickson (January 22, 1874 – January 17, 1954) was an American mathematician. He was one of the first American researchers in abstract algebra, in particular the theory of finite fields and classical groups, and is also rem ...

(1874–1954), one of the first American mathematicians to work in

abstract algebra In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures, which are set (mathematics), sets with specific operation (mathematics), operations acting on their elements. Algebraic structur ...

. It was supervised by

Karen Parshall Karen Hunger Parshall (born 1955, Virginia; ''née'' Karen Virginia Hunger) is an American historian of mathematics. She is the Commonwealth Professor of History and Mathematics at the University of Virginia with a joint appointment in the Corcora ...

Contributions

With

Joachim Schwermer Joachim Schwermer (26 May 1950, Kulmbach) is a German mathematician, specializing in number theory. Education Schwermer received his ''Abitur'' in 1969 at Aloisiuskolleg in Bad Godesberg and then studied mathematics at the University of Bonn. Af ...

, Dumbaugh is a coauthor of the book ''Emil Artin and Beyond – Class Field Theory and L-Functions'' (Heritage of European Mathematics, European Mathematical Society, 2015), concerning the work of

Emil Artin Emil Artin (; March 3, 1898 – December 20, 1962) was an Austrians, Austrian mathematician of Armenians, Armenian descent. Artin was one of the leading mathematicians of the twentieth century. He is best known for his work on algebraic number t ...

and others on

class field theory In mathematics, class field theory (CFT) is the fundamental branch of algebraic number theory whose goal is to describe all the abelian Galois extensions of local and global fields using objects associated to the ground field. Hilbert is credit ...

and ''L''-functions. She is the co-editor of ''A Century of Advancing Mathematics'' celebrating the centennial of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

(Mathematical Association of America, 2015) and, with

Deanna Haunsperger Deanna Haunsperger (born 1964) is an American mathematician and Professor of Mathematics at Carleton College. She was the president of the Mathematical Association of America for the 2017–2018 term. She co-created and co-organized the Carleton ...

, of the book ''Count Me In: Community and Belonging in Mathematics'' on

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

in mathematics (American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America, 2022). Dumbaugh was named editor-in-chief of ''

The American Mathematical Monthly ''The American Mathematical Monthly'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics. It was established by Benjamin Finkel in 1894 and is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Mathematical Association of America. It is an exposito ...

'', beginning in January 2022. In 2025, Vadim Ponomarenko was announced as editor-elect, succeeding her.

Recognition

Dumbaugh was the 2019 winner of the John M. Smith Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of the

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumbaugh, Della Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 21st-century American historians American women historians American historians of mathematics University of Virginia alumni University of Richmond faculty 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians