Biebighauser Named Endowed Chair in Mathematics

The Sigurd and Pauline Prestegaard Mundhjeld Endowed Chair of Mathematics was conferred upon Dr. Daniel Biebighauser.

A dinner was held April 4 to celebrate the naming of Dr. Dan Biebighauser as holder of The Sigurd and Pauline Prestegaard Mundhjeld Endowed Chair of Mathematics. Biebighauser is a 2002 graduate of Concordia and joined the faculty in 2006.

All of the past holders of the Mundhjeld Endowed Chair were present. Past holders include (from l-r) Dr. Bill Tomhave, Dr. James L. Forde, Biebighauser, Dr. Alexander Sze and Dr. Gerald A. Heuer ’51.

Biebighauser blazed through graduate school at Vanderbilt in four years while winning a teaching award, and returned to become an admired professor on Concordia’s campus.

He is well-known for incorporating his love of the number 51 into all of his classes, an element of playful pedagogy that students remember long after the end of the course. Biebighauser is the faculty advisor for Concordia's thriving Habitat for Humanity chapter, arranging both domestic and international trips during Fall Interim and Spring Break. He has been on a trip every year since 2009, except for his sabbatical year of 2012. 

Biebighauser is best known for his engaging teaching style for all mathematics levels. He teaches widely in mathematics, always willing to take on new course preparation. In his research area, graph theory, he has published (2018) in the leading journal in his area, Journal of Graph Theory. Through the years, Biebighauser has also supervised several highly successful student projects, often during busy semesters rather than over the more sedate summer term. These projects with students led to memorable student presentations at regional mathematics conferences, on campus, and to distinctive posters.

About the Endowed Chair

Sigurd Mundhjeld was born Jan. 19, 1899, in Norway. At age 15, he immigrated to North Dakota and graduated from Concordia College in 1925. He was a professor at Concordia from 1938-69 and was the first faculty member to hold the Alma and Reuel Wije Distinguished Professorship.

Pauline Prestegaard Mundhjeld graduated from Midland College where she was the first female president of the student body. She taught English at Concordia in the 1940s and was a community leader and a source of great hospitality.

The Sigurd and Pauline Prestegaard Mundhjeld Endowed Chair of Mathematics was established in 1987. The holder of the Mundhjeld chair is to be a person who has provided exemplary service in teaching and scholarship in the field of mathematics and who is known and respected in the field.

(Photo credit: Mary Zink)