Annual George Kitchen Memorial Math Lecture

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.

2026 George Kitchen Lecture
Dr. P. Gavin LaRose of the University of Michigan
Tuesday, May 12, at 7:00 PM in room 103 of Dewing Hall

We are looking forward to this year’s Kitchen lecturer, Dr. P. Gavin LaRose of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan. His talk, entitled “Discrete Population Models, Cobwebs, and Chaos”, will occur at 7:00pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 in room 103 of Dewing Hall on the main campus of Kalamazoo College.

Abstract coming soon!

P. Gavin LaRose is the Karen Rhea Collegiate Lecturer and Teaching Professor of Mathematics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His research was in modeling and applied mathematics, but his professional focus is now on the teaching and learning of mathematics at the post-secondary level. He has received several teaching awards at the University of Michigan, the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Michigan Section of the MAA, the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Section of the MAA. He has been involved at various levels of course and program administration in the introductory course sequence in U-M’s math program, enjoys teaching those and more advanced courses, and is in charge of the instructional technology applications that support those courses. He is an indefatigable bicycle commuter, bakes break almost every week, and tries to play ultimate weekly as well.

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