Memorial Resolution: Mary Virginia Sunseri
The adult life of Mary Virginia Sunseri was largely focused on diverse Stanford matters. She served for many years in a teaching role and as a member of numerous committees; and her generous financial support of both scholastic and athletic pursuits is notable.
The "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" is well established and has direct consequences for the instruction of college students, many of whom do not anticipate a continued involvement with the subject: far too often the latter are left with an unsatisfactory impression after taking an introductory mathematics course. An acquisition of some understanding and appreciation of mathematical reasoning requires concentration on concepts and connections as well as the solution of illustrative examples. The manner of integrating and developing such complementary aspects in the classroom poses a significant challenge for the instructor.
Both Professor Sunseri and a long time departmental colleague, Professor Harold Maile Bacon, earned an everlasting gratitude from generations of students who were taught by them. Their pedagogical style lessened the anxiety of students through frequent personal contacts and served to highlight the broad usefulness of the mathematical approach. A different audience, namely high school teachers, were also fortunate recipients of summer lectures presented by another eminent Stanford mathematician, Professor George Polya, who brought out the considerable advantages which alternative means of analyzing individual problems can offer.
Miss Sunseri joined the Stanford faculty in 1943 after studies at San Jose State college and advanced to a full professorship in due course. An endowed Stanford professorship of recent date (1997), which bears her name, was funded by Mr. and Mrs. John T. Packard of Los Altos to express their joint admiration for the type of instruction in mathematics they both received while undergraduates. Miss Sunseri personally sponsored a Men's Basketball Scholarship to honor her brother and followed with a Women's Graduate Fellowship in mathematical studies at Stanford.
Professor Sunseri played a significant role over the years through membership in committees with different agendas and concerns, such as undergraduate affairs, academic appraisal and achievement, Faculty Club events, advanced placement and Emeriti status. Her involvement with the community of mathematicians was not exclusively confined to the Stanford campus; she participated actively in the Northern California Section of the Mathematical Association of America and also served on the National Board of Governors of the Association. Other affiliations with the American Mathematical society, the National council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Honor and Professional Association in Education (Pi Lambda Theta) and local awards (Gores, Dean's List) for Excellence in Teaching reinforce the impression of an exceptionally dedicated and well rounded individual who merits a secure place in the Stanford annals.
Committee:
Harold Levine
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics