Fitting Gifford, Marjorie
Date Updated
8-12-2022
Department
Mathematics and Computer Science
Academic Rank
Professor
Year Retired from SJSU
1992
Educational Background
University of Hawaii, West Oahu, Accounting, 2007-2011
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Computer Science Engineering, 1995-97
Michigan State University, Mathematics Education,1968 PhD
University of Michigan, Mathematics,1966 AM
Wayne State University, Secondary Mathematics, 1958 MEd
Michigan State University, Mathematics, 1954 BS
Teaching Experience
University of Hawaii, Manoa, 2005-2007
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1994-1995
San José State University, 1968-1992
Fulbright Senior Scholar, University of Beira, Covilha, Portugal, 1986
Michigan State University, 1966-1968
Lawrence Institute of Technology, 1961-1966
Oakland County Schools, 1960-1961
Southfield High School, 1959
Bloomfield Hills High School, 1955-1957
Okemos High School, 1954-1955
Administrative and Professional Experience
Metier Tax Consulting LLC, CEO, 2010-2022
- EA (Enrolled Agent) Marjorie F. Gifford
Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay, Member
- Treasurer, RCHB Foundation, 2018-2021
- Treasurer, 2017-2018
Rotary International, Paul Harris Fellow
National Tropical Botanical Garden, Fellow, Lawai, HI
ERO, Counselor, AARP Taxaide, 2007-2020
‘Aina Ho’okupu O Kilauea, director, 2016-2018
International Executive Service Corps, Thai Petrochemical, Bangkok, Thailand, 1983
Metra Instruments, 1972-1982, CFO
Frankel Brothers Builders, 1958
Mason L. Brown Engineers, 1953
Russell Kelly, 1952
Detroit News, 1949-1951
Selected Publications
Introduction of Geometry, McGraw-Hill, 1996
"The Cevian Problem", Mathematics Teacher, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, May 1998
Computer Literacy Series, 7 booklets, Midwest Publications, 1984
Discovering Number Theory, Creative Publications, 1973
Test Generating Software, John Wiley & Sons, 1984-1986
Files
Personal Commentary
When I was an undergraduate student at Michigan State University, my advisor, Dr. J. Sutherland Frame, suggested that I revise his solid geometry book which had been published some 17 or so years earlier. I always thought that I would do that someday but never did. Finally, in 1990, I began formulating some of my own ideas for an introductory geometry book which in 1996 resulted in a publication with the same publisher.
Being a woman has an effect on what one accomplishes. For me in high school it resulted in my taking a fourth year of French instead of trigonometry (even though I planned to be a mathematics major in college), not taking shop or mechanical drawing, and omitting physics and chemistry. In college I elected to become a high school mathematics teacher instead of an engineer since women were unable to get jobs as engineers at that time. Feeling normal social pressures which dictated that the main purpose of college was to get an MRS. Degree and later raise a family, I was enjoying raising 3 boys by the time I realized that I really wanted an academic career and started back to school to get it.
During my years at SJSU, I most enjoyed those sessions in my office when students discovered the sources of their misunderstandings and regained their self-esteem in doing mathematics. Never being a great lecturer, I was always pleased when students asked questions because it helped me to know how to help them. I particularly remember when the President of the University came by and saw my students on the floor using manipulatives to learn mathematics, when the calculus II students brought to class their models of sollid figures for which we were finding volumes, when programming students first discovered the power of the computer in a hands on programming session, and when linear algebra students could echo back as a class, “But, what properties does it have?” The rewards in teaching are the accomplishments of the students: a set of programs that solve the problems of a school library or for pizza delivery, an “Aha,” when a solution to a mathematical problem is found, or a lesson well-taught in a local high school classroom. Thank you, students, for letting me share these accomplishments with you. Please remember to let me know how you are doing now!
Date Completed: 9/96; Updated 8/12/2022
Adapted from: Biographies of Retired Faculty San Jose State University 1997: A Project of the Emeritus Faculty Association of San Jose State University. San Jose, CA: The University, 1997.