Price, G. Baley (Griffith Baley), 1905-2006

The Eighth Air Force was the first division to have an operations analysis section and its section remained the largest through World War II. Section members used mathematical analysis to improve bombing accuracy and efficiency.

G. Baley Price (1905- ) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas, Lawrence from 1937-1975, including a term as chair of the department from 1951-1970. Price helped to establish the School Mathematics Study Group and was intimately involved with its development and spread of the "New Math." A former president of the Mathematical Association of America, he was awarded their Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics in 1970. In addition, Price was a civilian operations analyst at the headquarters of the Eighth Air Force in England (1943-1945). Price is the author of a history of his experiences with mathematics during World War II, as well as a history of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

G. Baley Price (1905- ) was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas at Lawrence from 1937-1975, including a term as chair of the department from 1951-1970. Price helped to establish the School Mathematics Study Group and was intimately involved with its development and the spread of the "New Math" movement. A former president of the Mathematical Association of America, Price was awarded their Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics in 1970. In addition, he was a civilian operations analyst at the headquarters of the Eighth Air Force in England (1943-1945). Price is the author of a history of his experiences with mathematics during World War II, as well as a history of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kansas at Lawrence.

Griffith Baley Price was born March 14, 1905, in Brookhaven, Mississippi. Price received his A.B. from Mississippi College in 1925 and his A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard in 1928 and 1932, respectively. While studying for his A.M. at Harvard, he was a Townsend Scholar. Upon earning his Ph.D., Price taught at both Mississippi College and Harvard University, then at Union College (N.Y.), University of Rochester (N.Y.), and Brown University before arriving at the University of Kansas (KU) in 1937. Price was promoted to Professor in 1943 and then named Chair of the Department in 1951, a position he held until 1970. From 1943 to 1945, Price was a civilian operations analyst for the Army Air Force, serving in the U.S. Army Eighth Air Force Operational Research Section helping to improve bombing accuracy. Upon his return, Price received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1946-1947. In the 1950s Price also served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Price was always at the cutting edge of mathematics research and education, and was instrumental in bringing the first computer to KU's campus in 1956. During the 1960s, he was a key developer of "New Math," which focused on using new theories, in combination with established practices, to find broader applications for mathematics in business and science. Price and several others compiled the first textbook for these classes, which pushed the level of mathematics education for new college students to a much higher level and was adopted at universities around the country.

Price was involved in numerous professional societies during his career, and held positions in many of these organizations. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Mississippi College in 1962, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Mathematical Association of America, an organization for which he also served as Kansas section chairman and chairman of the Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics. In 1974 Price was nominated to the new E.B. Stouffer Professorship in Mathematics, one of the few times a named chair position at KU has gone to one of its own faculty members. In his later years he wrote a history of the Department of Mathematics, covering its inception in 1866 through 1970. Price retired in 1975.

Price and his wife, Cora Lee Beers Price, also a KU professor, in the Department of Classics, remained involved with the University long after their retirements. G. Baley Price funded a graduate fellowship position with Spencer Research Library. Cora Lee Beers Price was named a KU Woman of Distinction. Both have professorships named in their honor. Dr. Price's autobiography is stored in Papers series Box 1 of the collection.