R. Dean Riess of Blacksburg, Va., professor of mathematics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, was conferred with the title, “professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting August 28.

The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors and associate professors, administrative officers, librarians, and exceptional staff members who have given exemplary service to the university and who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1967, Riess has been a respected and popular teacher of a wide range of undergraduate and graduate level mathematics courses. For his service and leadership in student advising, he was a member of Virginia Tech’s University Academy of Advising Excellence.

In addition to his teaching, Riess authored 23 peer-reviewed research articles in numerical analysis and co-authored five editions of a widely used linear algebra textbook. He also co-authored a two-edition numerical analysis book, and the linear algebra book used at Virginia Tech’s Mathematics Emporium.

Riess received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

The College of Science at Virginia Tech gives students a comprehensive foundation in the scientific method. Outstanding faculty members teach courses and conduct research in biology, chemistry, economics, geosciences, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics. The college is dedicated to fostering a research intensive environment and offers programs in nano-scale and biological sciences, information theory and science, and supports research centers—in areas such as biomedical and public health sciences, and critical technology and applied science—that encompass other colleges at the university. The College of Science also houses programs in pre-medicine and scientific law. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.

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