Reza Sarhangi ’89/94, professor of mathematics at Towson University in Maryland, is said to have had an obsession: connecting the fields of mathematics, science and art.
As founder and president of the Bridges Organization, he helped bring together mathematicians, scientists and artists at annual Bridges conferences for the purpose of exploring and discovering new ideas. Begun in 1998 at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., where he was the Phillips Professor of Mathematics and chair of the math department, Bridges became one of the largest interdisciplinary conferences in the world.
Conferences, which are held at various host universities in North America, Europe and Asia, feature invited speakers, short and long papers, educational workshops, a mathematical art exhibition, a theater and music night, poetry readings and other art performances.
Born in Iran, Sarhangi came to the United States in 1986, later completing both master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics and applied mathematics at WSU. A prolific scholar, he was widely published in the fields of math education and mathematics. He made major contributions to the study of geometry in Persian art and architecture, and he generated his own designs of mathematical tilings and tessellations.
“It is profoundly important,” he once wrote, “to develop innovative ideas for mathematics and science education via the arts and technology – and should be welcomed in the classroom of the 21st century.”
G.R. Sarhangi died July 1, 2016 in Rosedale, Md.
