Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald's home page
I am a professor in the Department of Mathematics and faculty affiliate of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies at Appalachian State University. Investigating connections between mathematics and society, I have won several awards for teaching, scholarship and service, most recently as an AWM Fellow. Some others include an MAA Alder Award, a Wayne D. Duncan Award, and College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher of the Year. I earned my PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and my BS in mathematics from Union College. For more information, see my academic cv and recent talks and a biography.

Fall 2024

1010: Introduction to Mathematics
2240: Introduction to Linear Algebra
Previous courses and student research
Pi Mu Epsilon

For students, the best way to contact me is
office hours or as an ASULearn Forum Message


Bender's Big Score: Greenwaldian Theorem
Bite My Shiny Metal X (DVD extra)

E-mail greenwaldsj@appstate.edu. For AWM-related items, please contact me at appalachianawm@appstate.edu
Mailing address Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald, 121 Bodenheimer Drive, Department of Mathematics, 227 Walker Hall, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608-2092

Select Scholarship in Mathematics and Society, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Geometry

For my full list of scholarly contributions, see my academic cv.

  • AWM Newsletter
    I have been a member of the editorial team for the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Newsletter since 2009. It is published 6 times per year.

  • PRIMUS Special Issues
    Judy Holdener and I co-edited issue 5 of PRIMUS on promoting women in mathematics, which was published in 2024, as well as earlier issues (issue 1 and issue 2) on the creation and implementation of effective homework assignments

  • Fifty Years of Women in Mathematics: Reminiscences, History, and Visions for the Future of AWM
    Janet L. Beery, Cathy Kessel and I co-edited Fifty Years of Women in Mathematics: Reminiscences, History, and Visions for the Future of AWM, which was published by Springer in 2022.

  • Women in Mathematics: Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America
    Janet Beery, Jackie Jensen-Vallin, Maura Mast and I co-edited Women in Mathematics Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America, which was published by Springer in 2018.

  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics & Society
    Jill Thomley and I co-edited the 3-volume Encyclopedia of Mathematics & Society, which was published by Salem Press in 2011 and named a "Best Reference 2011" by Library Journal in 2012.

  • Research in Riemannian Geometry
    Rubik's Cube games on spheres: description aimed at undergraduates.
    		Diameters of Spherical Alexandrov Spaces and Constant Curvature One Orbifolds, Indiana University Mathematics Journal, 49(4), Winter 2000, pp. 1449-1479.
    Asymptotic Expansion of the Heat Kernel for Orbifolds, with Emily Dryden, Carolyn Gordon and David Webb, Michigan Mathematical Journal, 56(1), July 2008, pp. 205-238. Erratum to "Asymptotic expansion of the heat kernel for orbifolds" with Emily Dryden, Carolyn Gordon and David Webb, Michigan Mathematical Journal 66(1), 2017, pp. 221-222. Diameters of 3-Sphere Quotients, with Bill Dunbar, Jill McGowan and Catherine Searle, Differential Geometry and its Applications, 27(2), March 2009, pp. 307-319.

    Additional Links to Select Articles and Scholarly Projects

  • SimpsonsMath.com and Futurama Math
  • Women in Mathematics Badge for Girl Scouts with Amber Mellon and Jill Thomley
  • AWM Through the Decades: A Chronology of the First Fifty Years
  • ``A First-Year Seminar on STEM Breakthroughs and Controversies" in Mathematical Themes in a First-Year Seminar MAA Notes 91, 2021.
  • "Raising the Bar with Standards-Based Grading," with with Megan E. Selbach-Allen, Amy E. Ksir, and Jill E. Thomley, PRIMUS 30(8--10), 2020.
  • ''The Diffusion of Faculty Development: A Faculty Fellows Program," with Tracy W Smith, Lillian Y Nave, Victor N Mansure, and Michael L Howell, To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development 39(1), 2020.
  • Teaching Students About Women and Mathematics, with Jacqueline M. Dewar in Women in Mathematics Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America. Springer's Association for Women in Mathematics Series. Vol. 10, 2018.
  • Popular Culture in Teaching, Scholarship, and Outreach: The Simpsons and Futurama in Mathematics Education: A Spectrum of Work in Mathematical Sciences Departments. Springer's Association for Women in Mathematics Series. Vol. 7, 2017.
  • The Association for Women in Mathematics: How and Why It Was Founded, and Why It's Still Needed in the 21st Century, with Anne M. Leggett and Jill E. Thomley, The Mathematical Intelligencer September 2015, 37(3), pp. 11-21.
  • Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM) geometry study group report, with Gerard Venema, William Barker and Frank Farris, 2015
  • Mathematically Talented Women in Hollywood: Fred in Angel PRIMUS, XVII(1), March 2007, pp. 103-116.
  • Incorporating the Mathematical Achievements of Women and Minority Mathematicians into Classrooms, in "From Calculus to Computers: Using the Last 200 Years of Mathematics History in the Classroom," MAA Notes, Volume 68, 2005, pp. 183-200. Also see project assignment, references for students, and Mon Feb 18- Mon Feb 25 for the mathematics discussed after each student presentation.
  • NCCTM Centroid Columns on Women and Minorities in Mathematics - Incorporating Their Mathematical Achievements Into School Classrooms
  • Futurama πk - Mathematics in the Year 3000, with Tom Georgoulias, and Marc Wichterich, Math Horizons, Vol 11, Num 4, April 2004, pp. 12-15.
  • PRIMUS Special Section on Popular Culture in the Mathematics Classroom, guest editor with Andrew Nestler, Vol XIV, Num 1, March 2004, pp. 1-39.
  • Taking Full Advantage of Sketchpad 4 - Why You Can't Live Without It, with Brian Felkel, ICTCM Proceedings, November 2003, pp. 85-89. Sketchpad 4 Classroom Activities and Explorations
  • Coffee Cooling on A TI-CBL Unit and in Maple, with Bill Bauldry, ICTCM Proceedings, November 2001, pp. 151-154. Related Web Resources.
  • The Use of Letter Writing Projects in Teaching Geometry, PRIMUS, Vol X, Num 1, March, 2000, pp. 1-14.
  • Geometry of the Earth and Universe

    Other Interests

  • My mathematical ancestors from The Mathematics Genealogy Project
  • In my spare time I like to travel, hike and conduct genealogy research (I also enjoy popular culture, as you can probably tell from some of my scholarly interests). In addition to my own personal genealogy, I like to give back to the broader community and it is based on this that I am a faculty affiliate of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust & Peace Studies. I am the project coordinator of the Bialobrzegi KehilaLinks and the Book of Remembrance of the Community of Bialobrzeg among others for JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy. These projects strive to research and preserve information about small Jewish communities that were destroyed in World War II. My great-grandparents lived here (it was the Russian empire back then!) in the late 1800s. Some of what I really like about mathematics is also what I enjoy about genealogy - the sense of exploration, discovery and aha moments that come with lots of patience and effort.
  • I am married to Joel Landsberg. We both happen to be on IMDb: Joel and me. My Erdos Bacon number is 6-7 or infinity, depending on what/how you count. Joel won 2023 Chief's Award for the Wilkes Rescue Squad and was Wilkes Rescue Squad EMT of the year in 2021.

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