Timothy Byron Gutmann ’89

Timothy Byron Gutmann ’89 died on May 8, 2007, while kayaking off the Maine coast near Biddeford.

Born on November 15, 1966, in Exeter, N.H., he prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from Bowdoin in 1989 summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master of arts degree in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and a Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University of New Hampshire in 2000. He was an assistant professor at the University of New England in Biddeford. He was also a volunteer at the Stratham, N.H., branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for many years. In a written statement, the chair of the University of New England Department of Mathematics, Susan Gray, said that he was a passionate and dedicated teacher who tried to help students understand the relevance of mathematics in their daily lives, saying “He was extremely creative as an educator, a scholar, and a skilled photographer. He contributed a great deal to our academic programs, and we now have a huge void.” Surviving are his parents, Lois and Frank Gutmann (who received a master of arts degree from Bowdoin in 1964), a sister, Cynthia Morgan of Auburn; a niece, Sarah Morgan of Auburn; an uncle, James Gutmann of Middleton, Conn.; and an aunt, Carole Merrfield of Lexington, Mass., and Liberty, Maine.