In Memoriam: Richard Tapia, Bridging Excellence and Equity

Authors

  • Larry Lesser

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63966/teem.v17i1.2297

Abstract

Dr. Richard A. Tapia passed away at 88 on May 22, 2026 after a long career at Rice University,  where he achieved excellence in his mathematics research (especially in numerical optimization) as well as in his leadership and advocacy for equity.  Rather than just repeat the stunning quality and quantity of accolades from the feature on p. 29 of the Fall 2011 issue of TEEM and various recent “in memoriam” pieces (e.g., Spafford & Garfinkel, 2026; Leeson, 2026; Williams, 2026), I offer a more personal reflection incorporating my first-hand experience and connections to TEEM. 

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Published

2026-09-03

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026): Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics (TEEM)

Section

Tributes

License

Copyright © by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).