The George Kitchen Memorial Lectureship was established at Kalamazoo College in 1999 to honor the life of George Kitchen, a mathematician who had been an inspiration to students and fellow mathematics educators throughout his teaching career at Portage Northern High School and is still felt today.
This lectureship is supported through gifts from his students, friends, and colleagues. The purpose of these lectures is to provide an opportunity for high school students and mathematics educators to hear mathematicians speak about their own related work at a level intended for high school students.
For all of his life, it was George Kitchen’s firm belief that a love for mathematics and its applications could be cultivated in every student. These lectures are offered with that goal in mind.
If you would like to make a financial contribution to help preserve this lectureship, please make checks payable to Kalamazoo College and write Kitchen Memorial Fund on the memo line. Send the check to Development Office, Kalamazoo College, 1200 Academy Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006. For more information contact Kristen Eldred at 269.337.7100 or keldred@kzoo.edu.
2025 George Kitchen Lecture
Dr. Sarah Koch of the University of Michigan
Tuesday, April 29, at 7:00 PM in room 103 of Dewing Hall
We are looking forward to this year’s Kitchen lecturer, Dr. Sarah Koch of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan. Her talk, entitled “Spotting the math in Spot It!”, will occur at 7:00pm on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in room 103 of Dewing Hall on the main campus of Kalamazoo College.
Spot It! is a card game for people of all ages (in fact, kids tend to be really good at it!). Each card in a Spot It! deck has eight pictures on it, and every pair of cards has exactly one picture in common. The basic strategy of the game is to be the first person to spot the common picture between your card and the card in play. We’ll play Spot It! and explore ways to answer various questions about the game. We will discover that there is a remarkable amount of mathematics underlying this game, including a tantalizing mathematical mystery!!
Sarah Koch, aka PK2, is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her research is in the area of complex dynamical systems; she spends lots of time trying to understand the infinitely complicated structure of beautiful fractals that emerge in her work. She has two PhDs in Mathematics, one from Cornell University. She received the Class of 1923 Memorial Teaching Award in 2016, and the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award in 2020. She was recently awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Michigan Section of the MAA, and she was awarded the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics in 2023. She is proud to be the Director of the Math Corps at U(M) and the organizer of the Math Mondays in Ypsi Program (which has temporarily been replaced with Super Saturdays). In addition to doing math, she enjoys teaching, working with students, making kindness chains, and beating Professor DeBacker in the step contest or swimming contest.
Previous Lecture Titles
April 30, 2024: Dr David Galvin of Notre Dame
Question Everything: Paradoxes, Surprises and Counterintuitive Truths
Spring 2023: No lecture this year.
Spring 2022: No lecture this year due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.
Spring 2021: No lecture this year due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.
Spring 2020: The lecture scheduled for April 2020 was cancelled due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.
May 14, 2019: Dr. Bridget Tenner of DePaul University
Counting and Not Counting
March 14, 2018: Dr. Dave Kung of St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Harmonious Equations: an Exploration of Math & Music
May 17, 2017: Dr. Aparna Higgins of University of Dayton, Ohio
Pebbling on Graphs: Demonic Graphs and Troop Deployment
March 30, 2016: Dr. Alissa Crans of Loyola Marymount University
A Surreptitious Sequence: The Catalan Numbers
May 6, 2015: Dr. Ashley Ahlin of Michigan State University
Snowflakes, Fractals, and Bach
May 1, 2014: Dr. Francis Su of Harvey Mudd College
My Favorite Math Fun Facts
May 15, 2013: Dr. Matt Boelkins of Grand Valley State University
Fibonacci’s Garden
May 3, 2012: Dr. Colm Mulcahy of Spelman College
Celebration of Mind: Connecting Mathematics, Magic, and Mystery
May 5, 2011: Mr. Ivars Peterson of Mathematical Association of America
The Jungles of Randomness
May 6, 2010: Dr. Tim Chartier of Davidson College
Mime-matics
May 7, 2009: Dr. Jennifer Quinn of University of Washington, Tacoma
Fibonacci Fascination
May 8, 2008: Dr. Arthur Benjamin of Harvey Mudd College
Mathematical Magic
May 2, 2007: Dr. Joseph Gallian of University of Minnesota, Duluth
Breaking Driver’s License Codes
May 11, 2006: Dr. Helen Moore of the American Institute of Mathematics Research Conference Center in Palo Alto, CA
Mathematical Rx
April 28, 2005: Dr. Richard Tapia of Rice University
Promoting Appreciation for Mathematics Through Applications to Very Cool Activities
May 6, 2004: Dr. Michael Starbird of University of Texas at Austin
The Fourth Dimension
May 1, 2003: Dr. Jeff Weeks
The Shape of Space
April 18, 2002: Dr. Robert L. Devaney of Boston University
Chaos Games and Fractal Images
April 26, 2001: Dr. Edward B. Burger of Williams College
Magic with Mathematics: Is the formula faster than the eye?
May 4, 2000: Dr. Colin Adams of Williams College
Mel Slugbate’s Real Estate in Hyperbolic Space
May 6, 1999: Dr. Arthur Benjamin of Harvey Mudd College
Mathematical Magic