Professor Laurent Saloff-Coste named new Abram R. Bullis Chair

The Abram Rogers Bullis chair was established in 1987 by Abram’s late daughter Nettie A. Bullis, to fulfill her wishes that a chaired position be established in the mathematics department at Cornell University in the Bullis name.

Emeritus Professor John Guckehnheimer held the chaired title until his retirement became effective on January 1, 2017. Professor Laurent Saloff-Coste has been named Mathematics’ new Abram R. Bullis Chair. Laurent is also the math department’s dedicated historian, helping to carefully document the rich history of mathematics at Cornell.

This short bio about Abram R. Bullis can be found within our department history pages that Laurent built:

Abram Rogers Bullis BS (Math) 1881, BCE '82 The only Chair Professorship devoted explicitly to Mathematics at Cornell is named after Abram Rogers Bullis.

The following text is from the Bullis Book Chronicles (online): Abraham R. Bullis was the only one of Doctor Bullis' children to remain in Macedon. He was born on September 4, 1854 in Farmington, New York. At the age of eight, his mother died and he went to live with his grandfather at the old family homestead in Macedon. In later years, after attending Macedon Academy from 1868-1869, he taught for a few years in various district schools, including Macedon Union School. He left teaching to enter Cornell University. In 1881 he graduated with a degree in Mathematics and the following year received a degree in Civil Engineering. He was a very smart man and was offered many positions from various governments and colleges. Abe would not take the jobs, because it would take him away from Macedon. He worked as a surveyor in much of Wayne County and held many other important positions in the Macedon area.