Lutheran North News

Meet a Crusader: Dr. Nadine Verderber

Nadine Verderber, LHS ’58. Do you remember the quadratic equation? Nadine certainly does. She wrote a textbook on how to teach calculus. As chair of the math department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, she remembers fondly being the only girl in physics class at Lutheran High.
The uniqueness of Dr. Verderber’s career is earning degrees in the field of mathematics during the 1950’s. Role models for women during this era were usually limited to secretarial, elementary teaching, and nursing professions. She feels her greatest accomplishment was paying all the tuition for her high school, undergraduate and graduate work with savings, scholarships, assistantships and first sabbatical leave. 
 
After graduating from Lutheran High School, Dr. Verderber earned a B.A. in mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis in 1962. She continued her education at the University of Missouri - Columbia earning her M.A. in mathematics. She began her teaching career as a mathematics instructor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. 
 
After she had obtained tenure, she was able to obtain a sabbatical to work on her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at The Ohio State University. Her dissertation is “Application of Certain Readability Techniques to Calculus Textbooks.” She returned to SIUE with a promotion to assistant professor. She became a full professor while teaching mathematics, FORTRAN, and Pascal computer languages. 
 
Dr. Verderber served as the chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at SIUE and is presently a professor emerita. She has articles published in the Mathematics Teacher and the World Book Encyclopedia. Her professional memberships include the Mathematical Association of America, the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Math Club of Greater St. Louis and the American Association of University Professors. She has served as a reviewer, program director and conference director in the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics organization.
 
Dr. Verderber has served in her local Lutheran church as a choir member, Sunday school director and treasurer. She also served as a pianist at a local nursing home. Some of her many fond memories from her high school days include participating in the drama club and being the only girl in a physics class.
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