University of New England

Dear UNE Community:

I am so terribly sorry to inform you of the tragic news that one of our own faculty members, Tim Gutmann, asst. professor of mathematics, died in a kayaking accident Tuesday night. His body was found Wednesday by the Coast Guard and Maine’s Bureau of Marine Patrol.

As reported in the Press Herald, Tim along with his friend, Brandon Andrusic, UNE graduate admissions counselor, were sea kayaking Tuesday night when a wave overturned both kayaks at about 7 p.m., the Coast Guard said. Brandon made it to Wood Island, and searched, but did not see Tim. He spent the night on the uninhabited island and paddled to shore Wednesday morning and reported the accident, according to the Coast Guard. Both men were wearing wet suits and life jackets and had strobe lights. Around 2:00 p.m., the search team found Tim.

Timothy Gutmann graduated from Bowdoin College in 1989 with a B.A. in mathematics and German. He then earned a M.A. in mathematics from Pennsylvania State University in 1992 and a Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University of New Hampshire in 2000.
 
He began his career at UNE in 2001 as a visiting professor of mathematics and joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2002. He was also a member of the summer mathematics faculty at the University of New Hampshire..
 
His research interests were in socialization and the role of mathematics in determining culture (thesis), development of graduate teaching assistants, teaching assistant communities, mathematics teacher preparation, affective issues in mathematics learning, and memetics as a tool for discussing the development of communally held knowledge. He had published several articles on these topics in journals such as Journal of College Teaching and Mathematics Teacher.
 
He was an amateur photographer and dog-lover, spending a couple of hours every week since 1992 helping out at the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His volunteer work included walking dogs, cleaning cages, training new volunteers, planning fund raisers, designing the society web site, and committee work.

This is difficult news for our University Community. Tim will certainly be missed. Counseling Services are available for students, faculty, and staff on both campuses for conversation. On the UC you may call 602-2549 or on the WCC 221-4233.

I join with all of you in our concern for Tim’s family and friends as we keep them in our prayers and also extend our thoughts and well wishes to Brandon as we all mourn together.

Susan Gray, Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences, joins us all in our profound feelings of loss and would like to extend her own message about Tim:
 
"Dr. Timothy Gutmann was a highly valued colleague in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences.  He was passionate about mathematics and mathematics education.  He wanted students to understand mathematics and its relevance to their daily lives, and he strived to accomplish that every day.  He was highly skilled with his use of technology as a tool to support teaching and learning.  Tim was an extremely creative educator, scholar and nature photographer.  He contributed a great deal to our academic programs, and we now have a huge void left by his absence.  He will be greatly missed."

- Danielle N. Ripich
  President