Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Three alumni, Dr. David C. Carothers '75, Nancy Aikman Martin '75, and Dr. John S. Shaffer '77, will deliver lectures to Westminster College students Friday, Sept. 23.
Carothers, who earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University, is a professor of mathematics and head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at James Madison University. He is active in the Mathematics Association of America both in the regional and national offices. Carothers will speak about "Polynomial Differential Equations: A Case Study in How Mathematics is Done," which will consider polynomial systems of differential equations as an example of the often surprising ways in which mathematical collaborations develop. Carothers will show how willingness to ask naïve questions and to depart from conventional wisdom can lead to interesting and useful results.
Martin is a romance novelist turned mystery writer. Her romance novels have been published in 19 languages around the world and have appeared on bestseller lists in the United States and Canada. But after 38 romance novels, she turned to her real passion murder mysteries. Her first was "How to Murder a Millionaire" published in Oct. 2002, launched the Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series, which are stories about three impoverished heiresses of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die," the fourth and most recent book, was published in March 2005. A native of Brookville, Pa., Martin conducts writing workshops in the United States and Canada.
Shaffer is the executive deputy secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He is responsible for the internal operations of the department's 25 state correctional institutions, the motivational boot camp, and the community correction centers. His 28-year career has led him to progressively responsible positions as a counselor, a personnel analyst, a business manager, a litigation project direction, a deputy superintendent for facilities management, warden of the 2000-bed Allegheny County Jail, and deputy secretary for administration for the Department of Corrections. In 2002, he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Prison Wardens Association.