12th president (July 1, 1998 – June 30, 2002)
Born: April 14, 1938
William Kirwan served nine years as president of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a faculty member for 34 years. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky and his master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in 1962 and 1964. He was a member of several honorary and professional societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the American Mathematical Society, and the Mathematical Association of America. A prolific scholar, he was co-editor of the book Advances in Complex Analysis and has published many articles on mathematical research. Kirwan left The Ohio State University to become chancellor of the University System of Maryland in 2002.