OWU's Beloved Mathematician 

Throughout his career, Jeff Nunemacher consistently embraced new challenges and opportunities. As an experienced mathematician and professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, Kenyon College, and Oberlin College, Nunemacher was ready for a new challenge when Ohio Wesleyan asked him to tackle Computer Science as an incoming professor in 1985. 

Jeff became the first professor at OWU to teach the theory of computation, and he described it as one of his favorite classes. While he enjoyed computer science, he describes himself as a mathematician at heart, with his primary research interest being the theory of curves. He enjoys teaching classes that connect disparate aspects of mathematics and computer science: "I'm surprised by how rich the interconnections of things are; math abuts a lot of different subjects. It's good for those other subjects to use math and good for math to draw ideas from other subjects."

Throughout his time at OWU, Jeff supported the mathematics and computer science curriculum. He was instrumental in developing and teaching the courses that formed the basis of what was, at that time, a new major in computer science. During his time at Ohio Wesleyan, Jeff has shown diversity in his teaching content by leading courses in chaos, Scheme and functional programming, Mathematical Logic, History of Mathematics, and scale relativity in biology, co-taught with a professor of zoology. 

His lifelong dedication to teaching excellence culminated in being awarded the Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award in 2018. In support of this award, a former student commented that one of Dr. Nunemacher's courses "changed my life and remains the most profound educational experience I have ever had." Another student wrote, "Ohio Wesleyan is rightfully proud of its exceptional teachers, and I met them in every department. For me, Jeff Nunemacher was the best of them, the center around which my undergraduate degree revolved, and a continuing inspiration to work hard on difficult tasks."

If that weren't enough, he also served for ten years as Book Review Editor for the American Mathematical Monthly, the flagship journal of the Mathematical Association of America, and remains on the Editorial Board.

Aside from his love for mathematics and computer science, Jeff also stresses the importance of being a global citizen. He believes that exploring the world will allow a person to see that there are many ways to solve problems and that those of us in the United States can learn from other countries. Jeff particularly appreciated the opportunity to learn from his students. "I've learned a whole lot about the world through them," he says.

One of his greatest pieces of advice to students is to go abroad during their college years to "broaden their horizons." Jeff travels abroad each summer to visit his wife's family in England. 

Since retiring three years ago, Jeff has stayed active in the community but admits, "I am still trying to figure retirement out." In addition to maintaining his service on two professional boards in mathematics Jeff has gotten involved by playing piano for the community theater productions. 

Jeff continues to teach one course at OWU and gathers for lunch weekly with his faculty colleagues.