Marcia P. Sward

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Marcia P. Sward
Born(1939-02-01)February 1, 1939
Maywood, Illinois
DiedSeptember 21, 2008(2008-09-21) (aged 69)
Washington, D.C.
Alma materUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
AwardsAMS Citation for Public Service
Scientific career
Doctoral advisorEdward J. Scott

Marcia Peterson Sward (February 1, 1939 – September 21, 2008) was an American mathematician and nonprofit organization administrator. She had a varied career as a teacher and an administrator of mathematical organizations, culminating in the position of Executive Director of the Mathematical Association of America. After retirement she started a new career in environmental education, specializing in children's programs such as GreenKids.

Life and education

Sward was born Marcia Ruth Peterson in Maywood, Illinois[1] on February 1, 1939.[2]

She received a

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her PhD thesis was written under Edward J. Scott and titled The Mixed Boundary Value Problem Along the Line of Parabolicity for a Certain Class of Hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations.[1][3]

Sward died in Washington, D.C., on September 21, 2008.[1]

Work

Sward was unable to get an academic job immediately after receiving her PhD, and worked as a

Catholic University in Washington, D.C.[3] She then received an appointment at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and worked there from 1968 to 1980 and was department head from 1979 to 1980.[1]

Sward then switched in mid-career from

academic to nonprofit organization executive. She stated in an interview with Association Management magazine that one reason was a low threshold of boredom, but also emphasized the need to stretch one's skills. She said, "As a professor I really didn't manage anything. The focus was on the intellectual work. So when I switched to association management, I had to learn how to manage programs, delegate, work with committees, raise money, work with budgets."[4]
Her first executive position was as the first Associate Executive Director of the
MAA Focus. Sward became the newsletter's first editor and held that position for the remainder of her time as Associate Executive Director.[3]

She left the MAA in September 1985 to become the first Executive Director of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the

Special Interest Groups inside MAA.[3] She received the Citation for Public Service from the Council of the American Mathematical Society in 1992.[5]

In 1999 Sward retired from the Executive Director position and spent a year sailing in

naturalists to Montgomery County, Maryland, schools), and helped start the Loudoun Environmental Stewardship Alliance. She was influenced by Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods to work on projects that made a difference in the lives of children.[6]

Selected publications

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiseman, Lauren (2008-10-09). "Obituaries: Marcia P. Sward, Educator, Mathematician". Washington Post. p. B05. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Social Security Death Index Interactive Search". RootsWeb (based on Social Security Administration records). Retrieved 2009-01-17. search for Sward, Marcia
  3. ^
    ISSN 0731-2040
    . Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  4. ISSN 0004-5578
    .
  5. ^ "Citation for Public Service". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  6. ^ Fitzpatrick, Neal (December 2008). "Director's Column: Marcia's Loss & Legacy". Audubon Naturalist News. 35 (1). Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States. Archived from the original on 2008-12-29. Retrieved 2009-01-19.

Further reading

External links

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