The University of Notre Dame’s math department chair will visit Kalamazoo College at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, to deliver the annual Kitchen Lecture. 

Professor David Galvin will deliver a talk titled “Question Everything: Paradoxes, Surprises and Counterintuitive Truths” in the Hornets Suite, 1600 W. Michigan Ave. He will discuss mathematics as an exact science that contains oddities and paradoxes that have serious implications and consequences in the real world. By the end of the discussion, attendees should expect to see that it’s a wise strategy to take nothing for granted and question everything. 

Galvin has been teaching at Notre Dame since 2013 since serving the University of Illinois, the Newton Institute and the University of Washington as a visiting professor. He also completed postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania after obtaining a Ph.D. in math from Rutgers University, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cambridge University. 

The George Kitchen Memorial Lectureship was established at K in 1999 to honor the life of George Kitchen, a mathematician who had been an inspiration to students and fellow mathematics educators throughout his teaching career at Portage Northern High School. Kitchen believed that a love for mathematics and its applications could be cultivated in every student.  

The lectureship is supported through gifts from his students, friends and colleagues. It provides high school students and educators with an opportunity to hear mathematicians speak about their work at a level intended for high school students. The public is welcome to attend. 

More information on this event is available by contacting Physics, Math and Computer Science Office Coordinator Kristen Eldred at 269.337.7100 or keldred@kzoo.edu.