Alex M. McAllister
Associate Dean of the College
H.W. Stodghill Jr. Adele H. Stodghill Professor of Mathematics
Offices & Programs
Education
BS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
PhD from University of Notre Dame
Expertise
Mathematical logic — Foundations and computability theory
Research interests in mathematical logic and foundations and computability theory. Articles published in Archive for Mathematical Logic and the Journal of Symbolic Logic.
BIOGRAPHY
Alex McAllister joined the Centre College faculty in 1999, and is H. W. Stodghill, Jr. and Adele H. Stodghill Professor of Mathematics and joined the Dean’s office in 2019 as associate dean. In 2009, he received the Kirk Teaching Award, and has been honored as a Centre Scholar both in 2005 and in 2010. He has prior teaching experience as a visiting assistant professor at Dartmouth College and a graduate instructor at the University of Notre Dame. McAllister was also a research assistant at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
McAllister’s scholarly interests include mathematical logic and foundations, and computability theory. His articles have been published in the Archive for Mathematical Logic, the Journal of Symbolic Logic, and the Mathematical Logic Quarterly. In 2009, Oxford University Press published A Transition to Advanced Mathematics: A Survey Course, which McAllister co-authored with William Johnston of Randolph-Macon College.
McAllister holds a BS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a PhD From the University of Notre Dame. He is a member of Phi Mu Epsilon.
AWARDS
2019 CTL Innovative Teaching Award
2015 Kentucky Section of MAA Teaching Award
2005-2007, 2010-12 Centre Scholar
2009 Kirk Teaching Award
2008 Stodghill Research Professorship
2007, 2009, 2010, 2013(x2), 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021 Honor Walk Talent Recipient
2005 Omricon Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society
2004 Alpha Delta Pi Professor of the Year
AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
Mathematical Association of America
Phi Beta Kappa
Pi Mu Epsilon
Omicron Delta Kappa
COURSES TAUGHT
Theoretical Foundations of Comp Science
Mathematical Impossibilities
Drama and Math in Ancient Greece
Mathematics in Our Society
Discrete Mathematics
Calculus III, Linear Algebra
Foundations of Mathematics
Abstract Algebra I
Abstract Algebra II
Real Analysis
Mathematical Logic
Symbolic Logic
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Mathematical Modeling and Applied Calculus, with Joel Kilty, Oxford University Press, New York, 2018, ISBN: 978-0-19-882472-5. A textbook for a 100-level mathematics course focused on modeling, data analysis, and applied calculus.
A Transition to Advanced Mathematics: A Survey Course, with William Johnston, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-19-531076-4. A textbook for a transition course surveying mathematics. Schaum’s Easy Outline: Logic, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005, ISBN: 0-07-145535-3.
An Abridgement based on Schaum’s Outline of Theory and Problems of Logic, Second Edition, by John Nolt, Dennis Rohatyn, and Achille Varzi, McGraw-Hill, 1998. Abridgment Editor: Alex M. McAllister.
Articles
Collaboratively Re-envisioning Calculus for the Modern Student, with Joel Kilty and Alison Marr, in Justice through the lens of calculus: Framing new possibilities for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Mathematical Association of America Notes, published electronically November 2021, 257-263. https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.11486
Tales of the Crisis: Morphing Faculty Evaluation, MAA FOCUS, Newsmagazine of the Mathematical Association of America, Volume 40, Number 4, August/September 2020, 26. http://digitaleditions.walsworthprintgroup.com/publication/?i=669168
Establishing and Maintaining a Culture of Collegial Collaboration, with Lesley Wiglesworth and John Wilson, in special edition of PRIMUS: Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, Volume 30, Issue 6, 668-681, June 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2020.1712670
A Modeling Based Approach to Calculus, with Joel Kilty, in PRIMUS: Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, Volume 30, Issue 3, 316-334, March 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2019.1588813
Mathematical Impossibilities, in The Courses of History: Ideas for Developing a History of Mathematics Course, Mathematical Association of America Notes, Volume 87, October 2018, 381-408. ISBN 978-0-88385-197-5.
Math and Drama in Ancient Greece, with Matthew R. Hallock, in The Courses of History: Ideas for Developing a History of Mathematics Course, Mathematical Association of America Notes, Volume 87, October 2018, 215-232. ISBN 978-0-88385-197-5.