Book of Memories for Peter M. Curran

Condolence From Frank Connolly

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 14:27:04 EDT

Despite his longevity, it is still doleful to hear of the death of Peter Curran. He was a fine teacher. He was free with his praise and temperate with his criticism of others. I was an undergraduate at Fordham, 1957-1961, and a Mathematics major there. Pete Curran taught me in Complex Analysis (from Alfors), and in a seminar on Rings with Minimum Condition (from Artin). He was always generous to students (as were his colleagues Charles Lewis, Frank Crippen, and Mike Aissen). Pete, in his youth, struggled with many economic and family disadvantages. Consequently, It was far more difficult for him and his peers to acquire a mathematical education than it was for my generation. I thank him for all his help. His generosity shines across the many decades of his life. --Frank Connolly

Story shared: Someone told me ...

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 20:38:13 EDT

Someone told me that Peter trained as an anti-aircraft gunner during World War II. He was sent to the Pacific theater. But when he got there he found he had nothing to do. The Japanese airforce had already been destroyed. Recently, speaking to Peter on the phone, I decided to check with him the accuracy of this story. Peter confirmed that, indeed, he had trained as an anti-aircraft gunner. But he said there were still some Japanese planes, when he arrived on site.

Condolence From Bill Singer

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:16:31 EDT

I am very sad to hear of the death of Peter Curran. I have known Peter since I was first hired by the mathematics department at Fordham, in the fall of 1974. He was a wonderful colleague, and a fine teacher, highly valued by his students. Peter served as department chair for the period 1979-1982. He introduced a major in computer science under the auspices of the mathematics department. This was the first computer science major at Fordham. I am grateful to Peter for his support of my tenure and promotion applications. I am also grateful for his years of friendship. I remember with pleasure lunches in the faculty dining room, in which Peter, surrounded by flaming left-wing, east coast academics, would quietly but staunchly uphold a conservative point of view. I will miss him.

Condolence From Bob Lewis

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:34:31 EDT

I am so very sorry to hear this. Peter Curran was Chair of the Mathematics Department at Fordham when I was hired in 1980. I'm sure he played an important role in that, and I will be forever grateful. Beyond that, He was an honored and collegial colleague for the next dozen years or so until he retired. Thank you Peter.