Prof. Charles Edward Wilder

Member of Mathematics Department Succumbs at 60

ONE OF THE senior members of Dartmouth's mathematics faculty was lost to the College and the Hanover community with the death of Professor Charles Edward Wilder, 60, in Togus, Maine, on February 9. Professor Wilder had been seriously ill for a long time, following a stroke, and had been on leave of absence since May 1948.

As a member of Dartmouth's Department of Mathematics and Astronomy since 1922, he taught advanced courses, including the theory of relativity, as well as some of the elementary courses. From 1931 to 1935 he served as chairman of the department. The fine qualities Professor Wilder brought to his teaching were pointed out in a tribute from Prof. Bancroft H. Brown, present chairman of the department, who said:

"To an unusual extent, Professor Wilder entered into all the activities of a large and varied department. Every semester he took one or two sections of the elementary courses in analytic geometry and the calculus. Whenever unusual demands in the courses on mathematics of finance were made on the department, it was always he who took over the extra work.

"But it was perhaps the advanced courses which he most enjoyed and in which he was most effective. These included the differential equations of mathematical physics, vector analysis, and relativity. Preparation for these took an immense amount of time—for he was seldom content to give the same course twice. The Teaching Fellows of the Department of Physics were the chief beneficiaries of this work, and they have freely expressed their appreciation of it.

"Professor Wilder was remarkable in that he seldom looked up formulas or methods in books, approaching any new problem from basic principles and what he described as 'desert island mathematics.' That he was highly efficient at this is shown by the well-remembered fact that several times he solved problems which had baffled all his colleagues.

"He was the close personal friend of every member of the department during the 27 years he taught at Dartmouth. His courtesy, fairness, and evenness were known to all. He was a competent, agreeable, and pleasant man to work with."

FACULTY TRIBUTE

Further tribute to Professor Wilder was paid in the Resolution of the Faculty concerning his death. This stated, in part: "He was a conscientious teacher, patient and sympathetic in assisting students who came to him for help. His absorbing interest in mathematics was complemented by interest in other fields, and his opinions along certain lines of scientific study were highly regarded by his colleagues. On a number of occasions he was consulted by members of the Dartmouth Eye Institute on problems dealing with the geometry of binocular vision.

"Professor Wilder was always a supporter of progressive action in the community, and had a keen interest in national and international affairs. He loved the outdoors, and was particularly enthusiastic about hiking and fishing."

GRADUATE OF HARVARD

Professor Wilder was born in Boston, April 21, 1889, and received his early education in the Boston public schools. He graduated from Harvard, magna cumlaude, in 1912 and remained there for graduate work in mathematics, taking his M.A. in 1913 and his Ph.D. in 1915. Harvard in 1914 awarded him a traveling fellowship for study at the Sorbonne, but the outbreak of World War I caused its cancellation.

Professor Wilder served as mathematics instructor at Harvard during 1913-14, at Pennsylvania State College, 1915-16, and at Northwestern University, 1916-18. During World War I he held a U. S. Army commission, first in the Field Artillery Central Officers Training School and later in the Ballistics Institute at Clark University. After the war he was Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Northwestern from 1919 to 1922 and then came to Dartmouth with the same rank in 1922. Dartmouth elevated him to a full professorship in 1930 and at that time awarded him the honorary Master's degree.

On November 27, 1917, he married Bertha Cuthbert McFallon, who died in Hanover in January 1949. They had two daughters, Mary Elizabeth, now Mrs. Robert George of Akron, Ohio, and Margaret Ann, now Mrs. John Johnson of Hanover, and two grandsons.

Professor Wilder was a member of Sigma Xi, the honorary scientific society, of the Gamma Alpha Graduate Scientific Fraternity, the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of University Professors, and the Dartmouth Scientific Association.

During practically the entire period of his residence in Hanover, Professor Wilder was a member of the Tucker Fellowship, and served for a term as secretary of its program committee. He was a member of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, and held the office of Deacon in that Church for a period of six years. "In this office, as in all positions of responsibility which he occupied," the Faculty Resolution stated, "he demonstrated a keen sense of his own responsibilities and a clear recognition of the rights of others."

Funeral services were held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Hanover, on February 11 and burial was in the towns Pine Knoll Cemetery.

PROF. CHARLES E. WILDER