When Dr. Tom Markham retired in 1999 after 32 years as a professor in Carolina’s math department, his coworkers established a scholarship in his name.  Markham himself has continued to fund the scholarship, which has to date been held by four students.  “All of them have been outstanding,” he says, noting that the first recipient is now working toward a Ph.D. in math at Washington University in St. Louis.

Despite being technically retired, Markham continues to maintain an active presence on campus, not only through his ongoing research as a leading scholar in the field of linear algebra but also as a member of the College of Arts & Sciences Board of Visitors.  “When Dean Fitzpatrick invited me to join the board,” he says, “it seemed like an opportunity to do something really worthwhile, to be able to give some input and to see what the big plans for the College are.”

For Markham, providing that kind of stewardship over the College’s future is a true labor of love.  “I love so many things about USC,” he says.  “It’s wonderful for me to see the theatre performances here, and the music events, and I enjoy the sports too.”  And, of course, the math department, which, he says, is notable for the quality of both its research and its teaching.  “That’s a great environment to work in,” he notes.

Since leaving his own teaching days behind, Markham has traveled extensively—he estimates that he’s been to at least 70 countries—and is writing a detective novel.  Even as travel and writing keep him busy, though, he continues to provide valuable service to the College and the University.  “One of my favorite quotes,” he says, is Thomas Jefferson’s observation that ‘if a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.’  So I find Carolina’s current initiative to create more professorships very appealing.  A University is only going to be as good as its faculty, staff and leaders are, and our students deserve the best teachers we can give them.”

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