Rate My Professor Matthew Cathey

Dr. Matthew E. Cathey has been a dedicated member of the Wofford College faculty since 2004, currently serving as Professor of Mathematics. His comprehensive academic background equips him uniquely for his role: he received his B.A. in mathematics and music from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, followed by an M.S. in statistics from Texas A&M University, and culminated with a Ph.D. in discrete geometry from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. At Wofford, Cathey teaches a range of courses aligned with his expertise, including introductory mathematics, statistics, probability theory, and pure mathematics topics.

Cathey is renowned for his contributions to open educational resources, significantly impacting affordable learning in mathematics. He co-developed the digital textbook "Calculus: An Integrated Approach" alongside Dr. Joseph Spivey, released in 2015 and made freely available through Wofford's Digital Commons to users worldwide. This initiative earned him the prestigious Professor for Affordable Learning Award from PASCAL, the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries, during the fall 2018 semester. Building on this, Cathey authored the chapters dedicated to probability and statistics in the 2023 OpenStax publication "Contemporary Mathematics," designed for liberal arts mathematics courses and accessible at no cost.

Furthermore, Cathey's mentorship extends to undergraduate research and extracurricular achievements. He advised the Wofford team that secured victory in the CFA Research Challenge competition. Recently, he collaborated with student Chanson Bullard on a project examining the mental decline of King George III through transcriptions of royal physician journals, resulting in a presentation at the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies annual conference. In 2025, his outstanding teaching was recognized with the Roger Milliken Award, the 21st such honor bestowed at Wofford's commencement. Cathey also provides statistical expertise as a consultant, acknowledged in peer-reviewed publications on topics like the contributions of arousal, attention, distinctiveness, and action to false memory formation.