Biographical Text
Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences Oliver Paul Sanders (December 26, 1924 -), retired college professor and administrator, was born near Caney, Oklahoma on a farm which his parents had homesteaded shortly after Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest D. Sanders, originally from Mississippi, he decided by the age of two that it was not meant for him to be a farmer. Sanders attended public school in Caney, Oklahoma and was graduated from high school in 1941. From 1941 until 1943 he attended Murray Junior College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. He then served in the U.S. Army from May, 1943 to February, 1946, during which time he also attended the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. When discharged, Sanders was a sergeant in the infantry. After being discharged from the Army, he married Virginia Frederick, who was the daughter of his sixth grade teacher. The couple, now divorced, had two children: a son, who was born in December, 1950 in Fort Worth, Texas, and a daughter, who was born in February, 1954 in Sherman, Texas. Their daughter, who now lives in Johnson City, Tennessee, is married and has two sons. After he was married, Sanders then returned to college, attending Southeastern State College in Durant, Oklahoma, where he received a B.A. degree in mathematics in August, 1947. Sanders then taught high school for one year in Ryan, Oklahoma before going to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater for graduate study. There he received a M.S. degree in mathematics in 1949. His masters thesis was entitled "A Study of Sampling Techniques". Sanders then accepted a position as instructor of mathematics at Arlington State College in Texas. After that time, with the exception of some work in industry and some time spent in doctoral study, he worked in higher education as a faculty member and an academic administrator. During the summers between 1950 and 1953, Sanders attended Southern Methodist University, Peabody College, and Oklahoma State University. In December of 1955 he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree with a major in mathematics from Oklahoma State. His dissertation was titled "On a Theory of Distributions for Ultrahyperbolic Partial Differential Equations". From 1949 to 1962, Sanders taught at various colleges in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. He served at different types of colleges while trying to determine what type of institution he wished to work in and what role he was
best suited for. In June, 1962 Sanders accepted the position of professor and chairman of the mathematics department at Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University). He was well liked and highly respected by his students and had the reputation as a simply sterling teacher. He remained at Appalachian and served in various capacities until his retirement in 1987. He was appointed Dean of Academic Affairs in 1965, and then served as Provost from 1967 to 1969. From 1969 to 1972, he was the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and from 1972 to 1974 Sanders held the position of Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Sanders is the author of the following publications: An Integration Formula for Hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations with Region Interior to the Cone, Office of Naval Research Technical Report, 1955. Inertial Guidance System for Regulus II Missiles, Chance-Vought Aircraft Technical Report, 1956. An Integration Formula for Hyperbolic Partial Differential Equations with Region Exterior to the Cone, Mathematics Monthly, 1958. Elementary Mathematics: A Logical Approach, International Textbook Company, 1963. Topics from Elementary Algebra, Oklahoma State University, 1964. Elementary Mathematics: A Logical Approach, Second Edition, International Textbook Company, 1969. Dr. Sanders is now married to Dr. Marjorie Farris, who is on the faculty of the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University. Sanders' current hobby is boating. He recently bought a 24 foot cabin cruiser and planned to sail to Tahiti in November. While there, he may take sometime to work on a textbook in discrete mathematics for which he is under contract to Prindle, Weber, and Schmidt. Sources: Long association and personal correspondence. - Dr. Richard D. Howe
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