His impact over five decades spans rigorous and influential research, curriculum innovation and a deep commitment to developing young thinkers.
In eighth grade, Richard Porter was far more interested in sculling than studying.
“The teachers didn’t really challenge me to understand the material,” says Porter, a professor of mathematics at Northeastern University. “On my part, I didn’t really spend any time trying to understand it at all.”
He was failing math, and was close to being expelled from his private boarding school in Delaware. But his math teacher stepped in, offering tutoring and helping him engage with the subject.
That helped Porter catch up with his classmates — and realize he saw math differently than most. Soon he was outperforming his classmates.
Porter went on to earn a doctoral degree in mathematics from Yale University.
Now, after five decades at Northeastern, he is retiring, leaving behind a legacy of leadership in mathematics education and mentorship.
Porter says his middle school experience taught him not only how to think about mathematical problems but also the importance of learning how others thought about them. He made it his mission to teach students to approach problems, whether in the classroom or in the workplace, in helpful and productive ways.
“Don’t just cede to somebody else like this teacher up in front of the classroom how to think about this problem,” he says. “Think about it yourself. Take in how other people are thinking about the problem and decide for yourself what’s going to work.”
Porter joined Northeastern as an assistant professor in 1975. Some of the courses he taught over the years include calculus, algebraic topology, graduate-level algorithms and complexity theory, and mathematics for students in economics and business.
His research centers on algebraic topology, which uses algebraic tools to study shapes and spaces of geometric objects. It helps mathematicians understand properties of spaces that remain unchanged even when the shape is stretched or bent — such as the number of holes a surface has.
Porter also gave lectures abroad at the Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille in France, the University of Sussex in England, and most recently at the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics in Germany in 2019.
He twice served as chair of the Department of Mathematics, from 1993 to 1998 and again from 2009 to 2013.
In 1994, Porter supported mathematics professors Robert Case and Donald King in launching Bridge to Calculus, a six-week summer program that prepares Boston high school students for success in advanced math.
“When it started, there were only maybe two high schools in Boston that offered calculus or advanced placement calculus,” Porter says.
By training high school teachers and expanding AP offerings in Boston schools, the program dramatically increased both access and student achievement in advanced math. Today, the program runs on Northeastern’s campus each summer, led by Boston public school teachers, and includes financial literacy sessions, as well as enrichment activities in biology, physics, chemistry, statistics, and artificial intelligence.
In 1996, Northeastern’s newly appointed President Richard Freeland set out to transform the university from a commuter school into a top-100 residential institution. His vision was to strengthen the co-op program by integrating it with academic curricula, setting Northeastern apart from other universities and attracting high-achieving students.
In 1998, to his surprise, Freeland selected Porter to lead the Division of Cooperative Education. Porter, then serving on the Faculty Senate Agenda Committee, believed the changes would work well in the realm of the mathematics co-ops. He was officially appointed vice president of the division in 2001 and served in that role until 2003.
Porter worked with college deans on creating integrated learning models that would connect curricula with co-op offerings for students.
“The way I think of it is that they’re reinforcing each other,” he says.
A great co-op opportunity, he believes, is not where students can practice exactly what they learned in school or follow other employees around, but where they have an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution in the workplace. That approach, Porter says, required buy-in from employers and preparation from faculty.
“We give them absolutely fantastic, eager students ready to walk in the door,” Porter says. “That involves some hard work by co-op faculty to help students cultivate that way of thinking before they even get into the workplace.”
Drawing on his experience as the co-op VP, Porter created the Co-op Reflection Seminar for College of Science students, which he taught until recently with colleague Steve Savitsky. The course, a graduation requirement, helps students reflect on their co-ops and consider their future goals.
Students often report that their academic training in math, computer science or finance classes, Porter says, proved invaluable on the job.
“That indicates the success of these integrated learning models,” he says.
Reflection helps students make informed decisions about whether to pursue graduate school or enter the workforce directly after graduation.
In 2009, Porter spearheaded the PRISM initiative, an interdisciplinary program funded by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. It invited first-year students to campus a week early for immersive experiences in science and research in fields they otherwise might not have explored.
Northeastern’s math and science faculty developed this program to help students reinforce or find their passion.
“The idea was that we would present to students experiences and have them go through experiences that would, in some cases, lead them to a major in the sciences, although if it didn’t, that was fine,” Porter says.
Their success in the program also improved student retention.
Even in retirement, Porter says he’ll remain driven by the same purpose that guided his teaching: helping students become independent thinkers.
In retirement, Porter plans to continue his collaborative research in mathematics — particularly with Northeastern colleague Alexandru Suciu — and spend more time traveling with his family, starting with a trip to England and Scotland.