323 E Plum St · Ft. Collins, CO
or BenForCouncil@gmail.com
Election Information
About Ben Manvel
Ben Manvel was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1943, and grew up in Washington, D.C. He attended Oberlin College in Ohio and graduated with honors in mathematics in 1964, the same year he married Anne. Supported by a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Ben did graduate work in mathematics at the University of Michigan. His two girls, Emily and Sara, were born in Ann Arbor. When Ben received his PhD in Mathematics in 1970 he got a job at Colorado State University and the family moved to Fort Collins. Their youngest, Evan, was born shortly thereafter. In 1975 they moved from west Fort Collins to their present home on Plum Street, just east of campus.
Ben taught mathematics at Colorado State from 1970 until his retirement in 2004, except for leaves spent in England at Cambridge University, in Australia at the University of Melborne, and in Florence Italy at the Instituto Matematico. He enjoyed teaching a wide variety of mathematics – 32 different courses – and was selected University Honors Professor in 1987. He is the co-author (with R.C. Bose) of Introduction to Combinatorial Theory, co-author (with Frank DeMeyer) of the materials used in the consumer mathematics course, and producer of most of the materials used in the course in mathematics for social scientists. His research interests included graph theory and combinatorial theory. Toward the end of his career he served for several years as the Associate Chair of the Mathematics Department.
Ben and Anne have four grandchildren (two girls and two boys), and are involved in many community activities. They both have leadership roles at their church. Ben serves as a Volunteer in Poudre Schools, a Master Naturalist with the City of Fort Collins, a Poudre Wilderness Volunteer, and a member of the Special Response Committee of United Way. Ben's transport modes of choice are biking and walking, and he especially enjoys his easy access to all the amenities of Old Town.