Biography

Benjamin Linowitz is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Oberlin College. Before entering academia, he served for fifteen years in the United States Army in both active and reserve roles, an experience that has shaped his perspective on mathematics and education.

He earned his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and received his Ph.D. from Dartmouth College in 2012. Before joining Oberlin, he was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan. His academic research focuses on arithmetic groups, an area that links algebra, number theory, and geometry. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation.

Teaching

At Oberlin, Benjamin’s courses emphasize the historical and geometric context of mathematical structures. His goal is to help students view mathematics as a dynamic human endeavor rather than a static set of rules.

Current & Recent Courses

  • Multivariable Calculus: An intuitive, geometric introduction to multivariable calculus and its applications.

  • Group Theory: An example-driven introduction to group theory, the mathematical language underlying symmetry.

  • History of Mathematics: A global, context-rich survey that reframes the traditional narrative and presents mathematics as a universal human cultural practice.

First-Year Seminar: Symmetry at the Alhambra

This seminar introduces students to the art, architecture, and cultural history of medieval al-Andalus through the geometric motifs of the Alhambra. Drawing on readings from history, literature, and art, students examine how artisans used simple tools to create sophisticated patterns and how symmetry shaped Islamic ornament across media.

Research & Education

Books

  • Group Theory: An Example-Based Introduction. CRC Press (Forthcoming 2026).

Selected Publications

  • The spectral geometry of hyperbolic and spherical manifolds: analogies and open problems (with E. Lauret). New York J. Math. (2024).

  • Systole inequalities for arithmetic locally symmetric spaces (with S. Lapan and J. Meyer). Communications in Analysis and Geometry (2023).

  • Fake Quadrics (with M. Stover and J. Voight). Selecta Math. (2019).

  • Counting and effective rigidity in algebra and geometry (with D. B. McReynolds, P. Pollack and L. Thompson). Inventiones Mathematicae, (2018).

Education

  • Ph.D. Dartmouth College (2012)

  • M.A. University of Pennsylvania (2006)

  • B.A. University of Pennsylvania (2006)

[ Download Abbreviated Vita (PDF) ]

Short bio for events organizers

The following bio is available for use as needed.

Benjamin Linowitz is a mathematician and writer whose work explores how geometry shapes artistic and cultural imagination. He teaches at Oberlin College, where he works at the intersection of number theory, geometry, and the history of ideas. His research centers on arithmetic groups, and his teaching ranges across abstract algebra, the history of mathematics, and interdisciplinary seminars on symmetry and art. He is the author of an undergraduate textbook on group theory and is currently writing a book for general readers that brings together mathematics, art, and cultural history through the world of medieval al-Andalus.