About Richard Moore

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Richard A. Moore was born in Ohio in 1924. His father was a Professor of Pathology at Western Reserve, Cornell, and then Washington University. Therefore, he grew up in Cleveland, New York City, and St. Louis. After high school in Clayton, Missouri in 1942, he attended Yale for a semester and then served in the Infantry in World War II from February 1943 to December 1945. He returned to Washington University for his AB in 1948, AM in 1950, and Ph.D. in 1953. He then served as an Instructor at the University of Nebraska and Yale.

Richard Moore came to Carnegie Mellon then the Carnegie Institute of Technology in September 1956 as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and served the Department until his retirement as a Professor in January 1986. From September 1965 to December 1971, and from June 1975 to July 1985, he was the Associate Head of the Department. From December 1971 to June 1975, he was Head of the Department.

His role in the Department during this entire period was one of educational leader. He planned most of the undergraduate curriculum developments in the Department, and was also involved in curriculum campus wide. His continuing debates with Hugh Young of the Physics Department in their effort to unite disciplines were a thing of legend, a unique effort to stimulate the understanding of undergraduates.

In 1970, he received the Ryan Teaching Award. His letter of nomination characterized him as a "student's professor", to describe the extra commitment that he gave to his students.

At the graduate level, he played a key role in the development of the Doctor of Arts in Mathematics, a program designed to prepare teachers for the collegiate level.

As an administrator, he effectively and efficiently handled the often thankless details necessary to keeping the Department running. The responsibility for scheduling classes, assigning instructors, advising students, supervising teaching assistants, and generally coordinating with departments across the University was his, and was faithfully discharged.

But this recap of his activities within the Department does not begin to capture his commitment to education. He was a champion of the gifted student at all levels, and initiated a summer program, Programming and Problem Solving, to help meet their needs, as well as organizing scholarship competitions. He also directed the AP/EA program from 1972 until his retirement.

He has shared his expertise in mathematics education well beyond Carnegie Mellon, serving as a consultant to school districts and area colleges. He has been the main representative of Carnegie Mellon to such groups as the Mathematical Association of America, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Mathematics Council of Western Pennsylvania.