By Michelle Montgomery and Kathleen Kavanagh
The applied mathematics community lost a leader in environmental mathematics and math modeling education when Bernard (Ben) Fusaro passed away on July 25, 2022. The world owes Ben a debt of gratitude for spearheading multiple long-lasting applied mathematics programs and engaging students in real-world problem solving. His kind heart and genuine nature will be greatly missed.
Ben earned a B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. in mathematics from Swarthmore College; Columbia University; and the University of Maryland, College Park, respectively. He also held an M.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Throughout his life, he taught at 12 colleges or universities — including six as a visitor (a Fulbright in Taiwan; a one-year invitation at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point; and a one-year sabbatical at the University of Florida; among others). Ben was tenured at the University of South Florida, Queens College, and Salisbury University.
In October 1983, Ben envisioned an "Applied Putnam" that the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) ultimately implemented as the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, a global and expanded version of the original competition—MCM/Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM)—remains a core activity of COMAP and a primary means of financial support. The contest enables COMAP’s creation of new student and teacher materials and promotes worldwide mathematical learning through modeling and contemporary applications. In 2022, 27,205 teams from 22 countries and regions participated in MCM/ICM.
In 1984, Ben introduced a general education liberal arts course called Environmental Mathematics (EM) at Salisbury. He later organized a 16-member Mathematical Association of America (MAA) EM Focus Group in 1991, which led to an MAA Committee on EM in 1995. That same year, he left Salisbury and began a three-year term as a visiting professor of mathematics at Florida State University. In 2001, Ben organized an MAA Special Interest Group in EM that he went on to chair for 10 years.
Over the years, Ben spoke about the importance of mathematical modeling in high school education at multiple workshops and conference sessions. He believed that teachers are ready, willing, and eager to attend modeling workshops and confer an interest in applications to their students. In 2005, Ben became a SIAM consultant for Moody's Mega Math Challenge—now MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge)—a high school modeling contest and program of SIAM that was piloted in New York City in 2006 and currently encompasses the U.S., England, and Wales. Ben suggested basic aspects of this program, including that it be team-based, have time constraints, and allow the use of any available resources. He also instituted the M3 Challenge’s open-ended problem style, with the first part as something that all participating teams can feasibly address and the latter two sections becoming progressively more difficult. In addition, Ben advocated for the incorporation of socially conscious problem topics that continues to this day.
Ben’s biggest contribution to M3 Challenge was by far his guidance in the development of a rigorous, consistent, and well-documented judging process. Working with the SIAM staff team, Ben formulated an interconnected system of judging rounds. The contest utilizes a normalization algorithm that is embedded in an online system, which simulates and automates Ben’s in-person tactic of leading judge teams for math modeling contests. It incorporates multiple reads and scores and elevates top papers.
With the collaboration and guidance of professionals like Ben, M3 Challenge has grown into a prestigious international contest that inspires young people to study and pursue careers in applied math, computational and data science, and technical computing. Winning teams have shared more than $1,755,000 in scholarship awards to date.
A member of SIAM since 1962, Ben remained actively involved with the SIAM community throughout his career. A portion of Ben’s outstanding service record—in addition to his crucial role in M3 Challenge—is listed below:
- Member, SIAM News Editorial Board (1983-2001)
- Chair, SIAM Education Committee (1980-1985)
- Member, SIAM Education Committee (1987-1992)
- Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Student Activities (1988-1991)
- Acting chair, Subcommittee on the MCM (1988-1991)
- Chair, MCM Prize Committee (1988-2001)
- Member, Education Committee Working Group on the MCM (1992-2003)
- SIAM representative, MAA Committee on Student Chapters (1991-1994)
- Lecturer, SIAM Visiting Lecturer Program (1994-2022).
Upon his passing, several of Ben’s friends and colleagues shared the following memories of his monumental contributions to applied mathematics education.
Sol Garfunkel, executive director of COMAP:
In October of 1983, Ben came to me with his idea for an applied Putnam exam. There was a preliminary proposal due date of early January for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), and we submitted a variant of Ben’s idea as the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM). A full proposal was encouraged and submitted that summer. We were funded in the fall and the first MCM was held in 1985; 90 teams from 70 U.S. colleges took part.
The FIPSE program officer was very skeptical of the idea. She worried that the contest would simply reward teams from MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, etc. I assured her that would not be the case; in fact, in the first year, the two “Outstanding” teams were from Calvin College and Mount St. Mary’s University. A few years later during a late-night conversation with the program officer, I asked her why she recommended the project, given her concerns. She said that whenever she looked at Ben, he always brought a smile to her face. That tipped the balance. As I write this, I can’t help but see Ben and smile.
Peter Turner, Clarkson University:
I first got to know Ben when I joined the SIAM Education Committee in the late 1990s. It was immediately obvious that Ben was a huge source of energy for the committee and a vocal spokesperson for modeling as a core theme. To my personal knowledge, Ben was on the SIAM Education Committee with at least three different vice presidents and was one of the most active contributors throughout. For example, he was the driving force behind our development of “Teachers’ Days” at the Joint Mathematics Meetings and was a strong advocate for the creation of SIAM Undergraduate Research Online.
On a personal level, I enjoyed many conversations—both professional and otherwise—with Ben. His influence on SIAM and the wider applied math and education communities will be credit to his memory for years to come. He deserves enormous credit for his service.
Dave Parker, Salisbury University:
Ben was hired as Chair of Mathematics at (then) Salisbury State College in the fall of 1974. He hired me that same semester because he said the department needed a topologist who also knew statistics. The quadrilateral design—featuring pure math, applied math, statistics, and computer science at its vertices—was Ben's view of the mathematical sciences. It is still the departmental symbol at Salisbury University.
Ben was a truly outstanding department chair. Above everything else, he was honest, fair, and organized. The department grew from four full-time faculty in 1974 to 30 by the time I retired 46 years later, but the department bylaws and rules of procedure barely changed from those he put in place. When I served as departmental chairman, I realized I knew how to do so because of the way Ben had done the job.
Ben was one of the most intelligent people I've had the opportunity to know, and the most widely educated and wise person I've ever known. I got a headache whenever I managed to make my mind work at the level his seemed to work at normally. RIP, Ben. You’ve earned it many times over!
Kathleen Shannon, Salisbury University:
Ben was my “shepherd”—we’ve since changed the term to “mentor”—when I first came to Salisbury in 1989. At Salisbury, I worked with him on a regular newsletter for the Wicomico Environmental Trust (WET), which he founded. This was in the day of dot matrix printers and 20-megabyte hard drives. There was a lot of cutting and pasting (using scissors and tape) that we would Xerox onto 11x17 paper, then fold and mail. Ben’s printer had handwritten Sharpie notes all over it (for which he was famous), and he had Post-it Notes all over his computer as well.
Largely because of Ben, our department was and continues to be very active in the MAA. We would send large contingents to both sectional and national meetings. Anyone we met would see “Salisbury” on our name tags and say, “Oh, you must know Ben.” When he retired from Salisbury in 1995, we all wore badges saying “Yes, I know Ben” at his retirement party/roast. The two of us left Salisbury for Florida at the same time—he to retire, me for my first sabbatical—and we had to hand off WET to others. The organization is still active and is just one of Ben’s many legacies.
Steve Blumsack, Florida State University:
I had a wonderful relationship with Ben for 20 years or so. He encouraged me with discussions regarding math and science education that focused on modeling. Due in great part to Ben’s influence, my interest in K-12 math grew. I worked with the Florida Department of Education as a consultant for the new national standards. This resulted in my inclusion in a small team that met in Washington, D.C., to determine how Florida fit into the national effort. I was not a great fan of many of the emphases in that venture, but it felt important that the ideas that Ben and I had discussed would be addressed.
Ben and I were involved in our local chapter of the MAA. In fact, Ben chaired one of our local meetings in the late 1990s. We also attended meetings in Georgia and one in New Orleans, La., thanks to Ben’s encouragement. During the pandemic, I helped homeschool my second-grade granddaughter in math and science. I believe that Ben’s influence was helpful in creating a positive experience for her.
In all my years in mathematics, I have never met anyone else with the passion and ideas of Ben. He had a major influence on my life and on others with whom I interacted. I miss him.
Bob Tardiff, Salisbury University:
Ben was an idea man who knew how to get things done. The example that leaps to mind is COMAP's MCM. I remember Ben asking members of his department what they thought about such a contest, and we liked it a lot. So as usual, he started working the phone. He solicited help, advice, and support from applied mathematicians in academia and industry all over the country. Getting the contest started wasn’t easy, but Ben stuck to his vision and relied on his team to create procedures to effectively judge papers in a relatively short period of time. MCM has since flourished.
I am so fortunate that Ben hired me in the early 1980s. I learned much from him about the mathematical sciences, teaching, and especially getting things done.
Catherine Ricardo, Iona University:
I had the pleasure of working with Ben on M3 Challenge, beginning with the competition’s founding in 2006. I served as data manager for the first six years, working closely with Ben and Lee Seitelman. Because of his infectious enthusiasm, Ben was able to enlist many colleagues to serve as judges. My experiences organizing and managing the scores allowed me to see his genius at work.
Ben was a master at handling the logistics of this massive project. At the final judging stage, he came prepared with a clear plan so that all judges could review the leading papers and participate in the final discussion and ranking of the winners. He led these discussions—which were sometimes heated—in a fair and impartial manner, giving everyone a chance to be heard. His reward came on the day when the top teams made their presentations and received their prizes. No one was more excited than Ben to watch the students present and defend their winning projects.
Henry Ricardo, Webb Institute:
Catherine and I met Ben in 1992 when we were part of an advisory panel for National Science Foundation grant recipient John Loase, who was writing a book on mathematical modeling. John calls Ben “an exemplar” and his work with Ben “pure joy, the highlight of my 50-year career.” I concur.
One day in 2005 or 2006, Ben called me at Medgar Evers College to tell me about a new modeling competition he was helping to establish. He asked if I knew people who would make good judges. He was also looking for someone to serve as a data manager behind the scenes and was pleased when I suggested Catherine.
We enjoyed our annual trips to SIAM headquarters in Philadelphia for M3 Challenge judging. It was always a pleasure to discuss modeling and mathematics in general with Ben, and he had many constructive ideas about judging the papers. His simple taste in food and disinterest in fancy settings was a source of amusement when we had dinner once judging concluded.
Though we no longer have Ben’s wit and wisdom, part of his spirit will live on in his books on precalculus reform and environmental mathematics. He has influenced many people through his teaching, his writings, and his work with mathematical modeling competitions.
Ben Galluzzo, Clarkson University:
I sought Ben out at the 2008 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, Calif., to tell him about a 24-hour math modeling contest that I developed based on the rules of MCM; I was concerned that I had borrowed too much of someone else’s work, even though I had fully noted the connection with MCM. After sharing the 60-second version with Ben, he immediately responded with supportive comments and encouraged me to continue working to grow the contest.
After our initial meeting, I was fortunate to work with and learn from Ben in a number of different roles, including as a judge and problem author for M3 Challenge. In addition to his generosity, I’ll remember Ben for his remarkable energy. He was always thinking ahead (and frequently on the move, as he set a surprisingly quick walking pace) and consciously working to make the world a better place; I have no doubt that he succeeded.
Nick Cogan, Florida State University:
I was a new faculty member in 2005 when Ben recruited me to be a judge for M3 Challenge. I was inspired by his energy and joy in exploring the problem and the students’ solutions. He always wanted the judges to respond to the kids with kindness and as teachers.
Ben also invited me to teach a summer course in a mini session for high school students that he had put together. He was a born teacher, helped me design a much better course, and reminded me how much fun people can have when teaching and learning. When I saw him in the halls at Florida State University, he always had a story to tell.
Priscilla Travis, close friend of Ben:
I am the main office secretary at the Florida State University’s Department of Mathematics and was a close friend of Ben for many years. It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to know and be friends with this wonderful man. Although highly intelligent, informed, and active on many matters besides his specialty of mathematics, he was very down-to-earth and made me feel like his equal. We always had a good time talking and debating everything. He had a great sense of humor and curiosity and was always eager to immediately investigate every facet of a new topic.
Ben loved the adventure of exploring all subjects, especially ecology. The local newspaper even did a full-page feature of his amazing yard, which was devoted to supporting the wildlife and plants of the area. He was very inspirational and fun to boot, and we talked a lot about after-life spiritual matters. Ben was a very wonderful and good man, a one-of-a-kind blessing to everyone he met.
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Michelle Montgomery is the project director of MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge), a contest for high school juniors and seniors in the U.S. and sixth form students in England and Wales. |
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Kathleen Kavanagh is a professor of mathematics at Clarkson University and the Vice President for Education at SIAM. |