In Memoriam: Craig Nolder, 1958-2025
Professor Craig Nolder earned his Bachelor's degree from the Case Institute of Technology, where he completed majors in both Mathematics and Physics. He pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, completing his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1985. Craig was one of 28 students of Professor Friedrich Gehring, who supervised his dissertation in the area of Complex Analysis. Craig focused on a generalization of complex analytic functions called quasiregular mappings. This was a field, along with quasiconformal mappings, that had been pioneered by Finnish mathematicians at the University of Helsinki, where Gehring had completed his post-doctoral studies.
In 1985 Craig joined Florida State University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Craig taught all the regular graduate and undergraduate analysis courses, and was known for the clarity and conciseness of his lectures, which he wrote in detail on the blackboard. His students marveled at his ability to draw a perfect circle on the blackboard with a single stroke. The first of the students he directed in Financial Mathematics, Benoit Montin, said of Nolder and FSU: "[Dr. Nolder] always provided guidance, strong intellect and good coffee. My time at FSU was cherished." Nolder's first doctoral student, Shusen Ding, now a Professor of Mathematics at Seattle University, came to FSU from Harbin Institute of Technology in China, where he took a complex analysis course. He became greatly interested in the subject when he heard Craig lecture. While he was at FSU, Ding enjoyed meeting his mathematical grandfather when Gehring visited. Ding was fascinated that he was part of a long mathematical heritage, and had many mathematical aunts and uncles and cousins that he could look forward to meeting.
After his earliest students graduated, Nolder expanded his research into Financial Mathematics, a new focus in the Department of Mathematics that came to fruition in part through his efforts. A number of doctoral pure and applied mathematics graduates of the Department in the early and mid 1990s found successful employment in the financial area. This was at a time when academic employment was difficult to find. A group of faculty, including Craig, thought it would be good to expand opportunities for their graduates, and in 1998 they developed the curriculum and received approval for a masters program in Financial Mathematics, later expanded to include a doctoral program. The intent was that curriculum for the degree would initially use appropriate existing courses in mathematics, statistics, business, and financial economics. Craig attended the many meetings to develop the interdisciplinary curriculum, before specialized mathematics faculty could be hired to develop new mathematics coursework and take students.
[Dr. Nolder] always provided guidance, strong intellect and good coffee. My time at FSU was cherished. Benoit Montin
Craig responded to the immediate influx of students who wanted the Financial Mathematics degree by taking an essential role with the core courses and seminars, and assisting with advising and admissions. With his broad intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm, and quick learning ability, he rapidly absorbed mathematical techniques, tools, and lore of the field. He began to advise students in the area, and quickly developed and taught a new course, Introduction to Financial Mathematics, for all students in the area. Between 2004, when his student Montin became the first Financial Math PhD in the department, and 2010, he supervised dissertations of 6 graduate students in the area, and published research with them. He could frequently be seen in his office, sitting side-by-side with one of his students, working on problems with them.
At mid-career, Craig Nolder's interests expanded again. A branch of mathematics had emerged from the mathematical tools that the physicist Paul Dirac developed to make his breakthroughs in quantum theory. Craig made contributions to the theory of Dirac Analysis and the related theory of Clifford Algebras, giving departmental talks and conference presentations. He collaborated on articles and hosted conferences with noted Clifford Algebra expert John Ryan of the University of Arkansas, published several journal articles, and directed graduate students in this area.
Nolder served his profession by speaking at and organizing many conferences, and had an international reputation attested by talks at international conferences in Germany, China, Portugal, Mexico, Belgium. Craig directed 12 graduate students to the PhD, 5 in pure mathematics and 7 in financial mathematics. Among Gehring's 28 students he ranked third in the production of Ph.D. students for the next generation. Before his passing, he was working with his last student in pure mathematics. Their collaboration culminated with a joint paper published in the prestigious Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society.