The following message is from the Office of the Provost:
Campus Colleagues,
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Stephen Leon Lipscomb, who served as chair of the Department of Mathematics for nearly two decades until his retirement in 2003 and amassed 40 years of professional service at Mary Washington and additional research and educational positions. A celebrated mathematician and eminent scholar, he joined Mary Washington in 1983, with prior positions at the Naval Surface Weapons Center from 1967 to 1983 as well as a high school teacher and coach from 1965 to 1966.
As detailed in his obituary, Steve contributed a myriad of articles to professional journals and translated several books related to the American Mathematical Society and a number of United States Navy reports. He has published several mathematical books to include “Fractals and Universal Spaces in Dimension Theory”, “Incipit, Art Meets Mathematics in the Fourth Dimension” and “A Life of Mathematics.” He invented and named Lipscomb’s Topological Space and pioneered several mathematical concepts including the first thrust integral programs for the Navy. Among his accomplishments are leadership of the tiger team in the Tomahawk Missile System prior to the operational evaluation in 1983, several patents for web structures and methods, and the discovery of a novel geometry, the 4web, that is used to create high-strength, lightweight web structures, such as medical spinal cages.Steve died on Dec. 30 at the at the age of 79 due to complications of Alzheimer’s. The family will receive friends from 5-7pm on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, at Covenant Funeral Service, 10830 Patriot Highway Fredericksburg, VA. Friends will also be received at the Talbott Funeral Home 56 N. Brandenburg Street Belington, WV on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, from 10-11am. Please see the full event details in the online obituary. Condolences can be made to the family at www.talbottfuneralhome.com.
Timothy M. O’DonnellProvost