In Memoriam: Kathleen Hollowell, 1946-2024

Kathleen Hollowell, longtime professor at the University of Delaware, passed away on October 20. She was 77 years old.

Dr. Hollowell began her career in education as a high school math teacher in Boston. During this time, she was a contributing author for several high school math textbooks, as well as the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. She was a recipient of several awards in recognition of her teaching accomplishments. On two separate occasions, she won the National Science Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching in Massachusetts.

After teaching for nearly two decades, she transitioned to the University of Delaware in 1988 as an assistant professor in the department of mathematics and the School of Education. Over the course of her two-decades-long tenure, she had a stint as acting director of mathematics in-service programs. She was also the founding director of the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center, a training program for K-12 math and science teachers. Prior to her retirement in 2008, she and her husband established an endowed professorship dedicated to secondary school math education in the university’s department of mathematical sciences.

Dr Hollowell received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Albertus Magnus College, located in her home town of New Haven, Connecticut. She earned her master’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in mathematics education from Boston University.