Mathematics: Dr. Kenneth "Ben" Raymond and Lawrence Law

Dr. Kenneth Raymond and Lawrence Law formed the initial math department at NCCC, and were also founding members of the faculty in 1963. Together these two put together a comprehensive curriculum that serviced two-year technology students, and also students transferring to a four-year institution.   While these two were hired by Dr. Notar, together professors Raymond and Law influenced the next round of notable hires that included Samuel Richbart, Kenneth Burg, David Brown, Walter Echols, Arthur Hadley and Charles Seeley.

According to professors Law and Raymond, math department meetings in the early days were held in the pool at the YMCA in Niagara Falls.   Both had experience in local industry - Dr. Raymond at Bell Aerospace, and Larry Law at Westinghouse. Dr. Raymond had also taught high school math in the city of Buffalo, and at Erie Tech.   He was let go in the city of Buffalo before he received tenure – a practice that, according to Dr. Raymond, was customary in the 1950’s. It was fortunate for Niagara County that the Buffalo school system was so stingy and short-sighted.

Since 1975 the math department has given an annual award to the top student.  In the early days the award was funded by Niagara Permanent Savings and Loan, and then by Marine Midland Bank. Each year the bank would send a representative to give the award.  Sometime in the 1980's one  particular bank manager introduced himself emphatically as a good friend of "Ben" Raymond. At that point Dr. Raymond was fittingly nicknamed "Ben".

Upon his retirement, Dr. Raymond generously donated money to the NCCC College Foundation to perpetually fund the award. At that time, the math department voted to officially name the award after Dr. Kenneth "Ben" Raymond.  Plaques are kept in the math lab in C-230 with all of the winners dating back to 1975.

Like Dr. Kwitowski, Dr. Raymond had the rare ability to make even the most confusing concepts crystal clear.  He could definitely hold the attention of a whole class for a whole class period.  Former students have noted that although Dr. Raymond never seemed to be in a hurry, he could convey more ideas in the space of 50 minutes than perhaps any other math or science faculty member at NCCC, all the while working in a whole inventory of subtle and cerebral jokes.

An early creation of the department was a two course sequence in algebra and trigonometry that could be covered in one 15-week semester.  The class met for approximately two hours per day, four days per week, and for many years was taught with a Herculean effort, and masterfully by Larry Law.  It was possible to learn almost two years of high school math in 15 weeks.  The course was highly successful in folding non-traditional students into various math/science/technology curricula in a hurry, thus fulfilling the mission of a community college.

By the late 1960’s, with the hiring of the second round of math faculty, the department had already earned the reputation of having exemplary teachers. On more than one occasion, it was noted by college administrators that there was not one member of the math department that was less than excellent.   Countless students, for whom math had been one long period of confusion, were suddenly enlightened with a very clear and consistent exposition of the often angst-filled subject we call mathematics. 

Although the department was uniformly good, they were far from uniform in style. Student’s from that era remember Sam Richbart’s impeccable teaching style, Dave Brown’s high standards and his messy desk,  Art Hadley’s brilliance and sarcastic wit,  Ken Burg’s always entertaining teaching style, and Chuck Seeley’s entertaining stories from his days as an engineer. 

If this early math department could be cloned, there would be little or no math anxiety in the United Sates, and we could easily beat Singapore and Finland on any international exam – and, our children could have enough leisure time to still play little league and take music lessons. 

The math department also played no small part in servicing chemistry and physics.  As these subjects are highly quantitative, long term success in chemistry , physics and engineering is largely conditional upon math comprehension.   For many students, the math department has been the silent partner, giving countless physicists, physical chemists and engineers access to the upper most regions of their chosen profession.