Warren P. Johnson

Warren Johnson’s favorite area of mathematics is q-analysis. He has been working on a book on it for many years, which he used when he taught MAT 305 (Selected Topics).  He loves the interplay between finite and infinite product/series identities and combinatorics that is one of the characteristic features of the subject. His other great love within mathematics is techniques of integration, so he appreciates his frequent opportunities to teach Calculus C. 

He inaugurated and serves as moderator for the College’s annual Integrating Bee. Gian-Carlo Rota wrote "Mathematicians, like Proust, are at their best when writing about their first love." Although his paper "Trigonometric Identities à la Hermite" arose from a problem in integration, Johnson has never written a paper on integrals per se. He is now working on one on an obscure idea in integration by parts, and he hopes that it will live up to Rota’s dictum. (However, he thought Proust was at his best when writing about the Baron de Charlus.)

Ironically, two of his best papers are on differential calculus, a subject he doesn’t like quite as much."The Curious History of Faà di Bruno’s Formula" won the Lester R. Ford award for mathematical expository writing from the Mathematical Association of America in 2002, and "The Pfaff/Cauchy Derivative Identities and Hurwitz type Extensions," if not his best paper, is at least his longest. These two projects allowed him to indulge his interest in the history of mathematics, particularly the period from 1730 to 1900.

He has also written several papers on determinants. The best and most recent of these is "Some Extensions of Brioschi’s Double Alternant," co-authored with Emil Lalov ’14.

Johnson is an Associate Editor of Mathematics Magazine, a member of the Basic Library List committee of the Mathematical Association of America, and Academic Liaison to the College’s men’s soccer program.

Johnson was awarded the 2017 John S. King Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, established to recognize teacher-scholars with high standards of teaching excellence and concern for students.

Visit the mathematics department website.

Majoring in Mathematics.