Deborah Jo Bennett (born 1950) is an American mathematician, mathematics educator, and book author. She is a professor of mathematics at

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

Education and career

Bennett is originally from

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

; her father was a military officer and her mother worked as a computer systems analyst. She majored in mathematics at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, graduating in 1972, and worked as a researcher at the

Institute for Defense Analysis The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an American non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) – the Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), the Science and Technology Policy Institute ...

and as an

operations research Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...

er for the US

Government Accountability Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...

before returning to graduate school for a master's degree in operations research at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in 1980. After a year in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

teaching mathematics through the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, she became a mathematics instructor at

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...

from 1981 to 1987, and at

Farmingdale State College The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College or SUNY Farmingdale) is a public college in East Farmingdale, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college was chartered in 1912 as a school of ap ...

from 1984 to 1993. While doing this, she also completed a Ph.D. in mathematics education at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1993. Her dissertation, ''The Development of the Mathematical Concept of Randomness: Educational Implications'', was supervised by Kenneth P. Goldberg. She joined New Jersey City University as an assistant professor of mathematics in 1993, adding a concurrent appointment in education in 1999. She has since become a full professor, and served two terms as president of the University Senate.

Books

Bennett is the coauthor of the textbook ''Algebra for All'' (with Phillip Aikey and Julio Guillen, McGraw-Hill, 1997). She is also the author of two

popular mathematics Popular mathematics is the presentation of mathematics to an aimed general audience. The difference between recreational mathematics and popular mathematics is that recreational mathematics intends to be fun for the mathematical community, and p ...

books, ''Randomness'' (Harvard University Press, 1998), and '' Logic Made Easy: How to Know When Language Deceives You'' (W. W. Norton, 2004). Her book ''Logic Made Easy'' was listed as an Outstanding Academic Title in 2004 by

Choice Reviews Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). It includes the magazine ''Choice'' as well as other products including the ''Choice Reviews'' database. The magazine was established in 1964. It is cons ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Deborah J. 1950 births People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians American women mathematicians University of Alabama alumni George Washington University alumni New York University alumni Pace University faculty Farmingdale State College faculty New Jersey City University faculty 21st-century American women