Dr. Robert Lee "R.L" Moore

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some names get carved into stone because of what they built. Some get carved in because of what they taught.

And every now and then, you get a man who did both, and the stone just barely holds him. That's R.L. Moore for you.

Robert Lee Moore was born in Dallas in 1882, and from the very start, the man was moving fast through the world of mathematics. He showed up at the University of Texas at Austin and walked out in 1901 with both a bachelor's and a master's degree. Let that sit a moment.

Both of them. 1901. Then he headed north to the University of Chicago, which had built itself a renowned department of research mathematics, and in 1905 he came away with his doctoral degree. After that, Moore took his talents on a tour of American universities.

Tennessee at Knoxville. Princeton. Northwestern.

The man was getting around. Then in 1910, he married Margaret MacLellan Key, and the two of them moved to Philadelphia, where Dr. Moore took a position at the University of Pennsylvania.

And it was there, in Philadelphia, that something important started taking shape. Not just research, though there was plenty of that coming. What took shape was a way of teaching.

Moore would give his students assumptions, then gradually introduce hypotheses, and those students had to prove or disprove them on their own. No hand-holding. No answers handed down from on high.

Just the problem, and the student, and the work. The roots of this approach go back to Socratic and inquiry-based models, but what Moore built with it became known, plainly and permanently, as the Moore Method. In 1920, Dr.

Moore came home to the University of Texas at Austin, and he stayed. Five decades as a professor, most of that time living right here, in this house, originally located one block west of where the marker stands. Five decades.

He guided forty-seven students to doctoral degrees. He published over sixty papers on what became his principal subject, point set theory. His major work, Foundations of Point Set Theory, came out in 1932, and through that research he established a branch of topology.

The recognition followed, as it tends to do when the work is undeniable. Also in 1932, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 1937, he was named president of the American Mathematical Society.

He kept teaching until 1969, when he retired. Then in 1973, the University of Texas named a newly constructed building in his honor. R.L.

Moore Hall. Robert Lee Moore was born in 1882 and died in 1974. He left behind forty-seven doctoral students who went on to become leading mathematics figures themselves, sixty-plus papers, a foundational work in topology, and a teaching method that still carries his name.

Some men build buildings. R.L. Moore built mathematicians.

What the marker says

(1882-1974) Dallas-born Robert Lee “R.L.” Moore was a noted figure in the new generation of American-educated researchers of science in the early 20th century. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning both bachelors and masters degrees in 1901. In 1905, he graduated with a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago, which had a renowned department of research mathematics. After his studies, Moore taught at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Princeton University and Northwestern University. In 1910, he married Margaret MacLellan Key, and the two moved to Philadelphia, where Dr. Moore took a position at the University of Pennsylvania. Here he developed a teaching method where he gave students assumptions and gradually introduced hypotheses which they had to prove or disprove. This pedagogy, whose roots are in the Socratic and inquiry-based models, became known as the Moore Method. In 1920, Dr. Moore started a five-decade long career as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, living in this house (originally located one block west) for most of that time. He guided forty-seven students to doctoral degrees and conducted research, including his principal work, Foundations of Point Set Theory (1932). He published over 60 papers on this topic, establishing a branch of topology. Moore was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1932) and named president of the American Mathematical Society (1937). He retired in 1969, and in 1973, the university named a newly constructed building for him (R.L. Moore Hall). Today, Dr. R.L. Moore is remembered as a prominent mathematics researcher, an influential teacher and a mentor to students who would become leading mathematics figures themselves. (2008)