Abstract

Elbert Walker was born in Huntsville, Texas. With his B.A. in mathematics at Sam Houston State Teachers College he became a teacher of mathematics and English in two independent public schools in Texas. In 1952 he earned a Master’s in mathematics at Sam Houston State and in 1955 the Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Kansas. Two years later he came to New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts where he supported the newly-formed Ph.D. program in mathematics. He was Research Mathematician at the National Security Agency in Washington, D. C. and then Assistant Professor of Mathematics, at the University of Kansas and the New Mexico State University where he then became Associate Professor of Mathematics, Distinguished Associate Professor of Mathematics and finally Professor of Mathematics. ). In 1965 he received NMSU’s prestigious Westhafer Award for Research. On sabbatical leave from NMSU he was Member of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Rice University and Graduate Student at Colorado State University. During this last period he earned from Colorado State an M. S. in Statistics. Since 1987 Elbert A. Walker is now Professor Emeritus at NMSU, he was Program Director for Special Projects at the Division of Mathematical Sciences of the NSF and Consultant, at TCI Software Research in Las Cruces,. He was the principal investigator on National Science Foundation research grants for 25 years. He retired from NMSU in 1987. Carol Walker was born in California. The family moved to Colorado when she was young. She studied music at the University of Colorado and earned a degree in music education in 1957. She then studied mathematics and physics at colleges in Denver, Colorado. In 1959 she went to Las Cruces, New Mexico for graduate studies in mathematics. Elbert Walker became Carol’s advisor and she earned the master’s degree at NMSU in 1961. Late the following year they married and Carol finished her Ph.D. studies under D. K. Harrison in 1963. Then Carol became a member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton with a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. After that year, in 1964 Carol became assistant professor of mathematics at NMSU. Eight years later, in 1972 Carol became a full professor. She served 14 years as department head and three as associate dean and director of the college research center. On sabbatical leave from NMSU she was Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Rice University, Faculty Affiliate at Colorado State University, Visiting Scholar at University of California at Berkeley, and Visiting Professor at Florida Atlantic University. She retired from NMSU in 1996 and is Professor Emeritus of mathematics at NMSU.