Coastal Carolina University on April 19 dedicated the Subhash Saxena Department of Mathematics and Statistics in recognition of Dr. Saxena’s contributions to the university and its students.
Horry County Democratic Party is proud that Dr. Saxena has been a loyal and active member of the Democratic Party and greatly appreciates his efforts and support. Dr. Saxena is a member of the HCDP Executive Committee and president of the Myrtlewood 2 precinct.
In a video interview with HCDP, Dr. Saxena traces his work in higher education since his arrival in the U.S. in late 1959 and urges young people to embrace the study of mathematics and related subjects. Many opportunities abound for those skilled in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), including careers related to preserving our planet, he stresses.
Dr. Saxena says he has been a Democrat ever since he became a citizen, largely because of the party’s consistent and strong support of higher education, which he believes has contributed more to the U.S. than just about any other factor. The Republican Party, he adds, “is no longer the party of Lincoln.” President Lincoln was one of two U.S. presidents who were especially dedicated to higher education, having launched land grant colleges. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose presidency saw enactment of the GI bill, was the other, he says.
During the dedication ceremony, CCU President Michael T. Benson expressed appreciation to Dr. Saxena’s “unwavering commitment” to the university and its students.
“His unending generosity speaks volumes about his love for the University and his desire to see it continue to flourish. He had a profound impact on countless students during his storied teaching career, and we are privileged to recognize his nearly 50-year association with the institution by naming the mathematics and statistics department in his honor.”
Saxena, who began teaching at Coastal in 1973, was a mainstay of the mathematics department for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2000. He served as department chair from 1987-1993. In 1985, Saxena earned the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award and was then named Outstanding Teacher within the University of South Carolina system. He is also credited with establishing a Pi Mu Epsilon national mathematics honor society chapter on campus. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, the University named him distinguished professor emeritus of mathematics in 2000.
“With mathematics being the foundation of all the sciences, Dr. Saxena’s decades of service to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics has formed the basis of the success of the Gupta College of Science,” said Michael Roberts, Ph.D., dean of the Gupta College of Science. “With his efforts and leadership to establish this foundation, the department, college, and University have thrived.”
In April 2018, in recognition of a previous endowed gift from Saxena, the mathematics faculty office suite and teaching space on the second floor of the renovated R. Cathcart Smith Science Center was named the Dr. Subhash Saxena Math Suite. Saxena, along with his wife, Pushpa, also financially supports the University and its students through the Dr. Subhash Saxena Math Research Endowment, the Dr. Subhash Saxena Math Contest and Lecture Series Endowed Program Fund, and the Subhash Saxena Scholarship.
“I am very humbled by this honor that has been given to me,” said Saxena.
Saxena left his native India in late 1959 after earning a bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D., all in mathematics, from the University of Delhi.
“We are very excited to honor Dr. Saxena, who is loved by so many from the CCU family,” said Diane Sanders, CCU’s vice president for advancement and alumni engagement. “It is extremely fitting that we recognize his ongoing generosity by naming the Subhash Saxena Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University. Through this well-deserved recognition, Dr. Saxena will be forever associated with the department he helped to firmly establish and develop through the years.”
