- born 6 November 1927
     - 6 June 1950: graduated USMA and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers
     - Sep 1950-May 1953: served in various company grade positions for Engineer Aviation Companies in Okinawa, Korea, Florida, and British West Indies
     - Aug 1953-Jul 1954: served in Memphis Engineer District
     - Jun 1955-Jun 1956: Student, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
     - Jul 1956-Jun 1959: Adjutant and B Company Commander, 237th Engineer Battalion
     - Jun 1959-Jun 1960: Student, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
     - Jun 1960-Jun 1964: Instructor, Department of Mathematics, USMA
     - Jun 1966-Jul 1977: Associate Professor of Mathematics, USMA
     - Jul 1977-Jul 1985: Professor of Mathematics and Deputy Head of Mathematics Department, USMA
     - Jul 1985-Jul 1988: Head of Mathematics Department, USMA

     David Herdman Cameron was born in Southampton, New York on 6 November 1927.  After graduating high school in June 1945, Cameron elected to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Although he enjoyed the academic challenge of MIT, when he received an appointment to USMA in 1946, he accepted it.  Cadet Cameron excelled academically as he had in high school and at MIT.  He "always managed to stay close to the stars."  Cadet Cameron graduated twenty-second in a class of six-hundred seventy on 6 June 1950.  Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.

     After graduation, Lieutenant Cameron's initial assignment was with the S-3 section of an Engineer Aviation Group in Okinawa.  He then served as Engineer Platoon Leader for an Engineer Aviation Battalion.  Nine months on Okinawa were followed by nine months in Korea where his engineer unit was engaged in airfield repair and construction.  In 1952, Lieutenant Cameron returned to the United States to serve as Company Executive Officer and Company Commander in an Engineer Aviation Battalion in Orlando, Florida.  Lieutenant Cameron was with this unit when they were temporarily transferred to Mayaguana Island in the British West Indies.

     In August 1953, Lieutenant Cameron was assigned to the Memphis Engineer District where he was involved with various district operations that included flood wall design and construction, dredging and map control.  In June 1955, Captain Cameron was assigned to Princeton University as a student officer where he earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering.

     In July 1956, Captain Cameron proceeded to Germany where he assumed company command in an Engineer Combat Battalion.  Upon relinquishing command, Captain Cameron was selected to be the Battalion Adjutant for the duration of his three year tour in Europe.  Captain Cameron concluded his first ten years of military service with another year of graduate study, earning a Master of Science Degree in Mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

     In July 1960, Captain Cameron commenced his duties as a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at USMA, where he would serve for the balance of his career.  For the next four years, Captain Cameron performed superbly as an instructor and an assistant professor, teaching freshman and sophomore standard courses as well as serving as Chairman of the Third Class Advanced and First Class Elective Program.  Captain Cameron had the honor of being selected to instruct the Academy's first Advanced Mathematics Course.  "He challenged and motivated these gifted cadets to develop to a higher degree not just their mathematical abilities, but also their thinking skills." In 1964, Captain Cameron was selected as a tenured faculty member.  He immediately thereafter spent two years at Princeton University for PhD studies.

     Major Cameron resumed duties at West Point in 1966 as the Chief of the Mathematics Electives Program.  He "established a viable, demanding program that met the needs of cadet mathematics concentrators and was responsive to changes in applied mathematics."  He saw to it that real world data and computers were available to solve concrete application problems.  He contributed to the development of the field of study in operations research and the optional major in mathematical sciences.  As an educator and mathematics advisor, he became renowned for his expertise in differential equations and complex analysis.  During this period, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron continued his doctoral studies.  In 1970, he was awarded a PhD in Civil Engineering from Princeton University.

     From 1971 until 1976, Colonel Cameron served as Chief of the Fourth Class Mathematics Group, responsible for the major portion of the development of the cadets fundamental mathematics courses.  He was a wise leader and thorough administrator who kept the mathematics program sound pedagogically and true to the mission of the Military Academy.  He accomplished this "by continually teaching in the program, by directing creative approaches to various topics, by many hours spent visiting classes and constructively critiquing the efforts of instructors and students, and perhaps most of all, by the patient and inspirational guidance which he gave to all instructors." Those who worked for and with him all agreed, Colonel Cameron was a "teacher's teacher."

     In 1977, Colonel Cameron was selected as Deputy Head of the Mathematics Department.  He served in this position until 1985 when he was elevated to the position of Head of the Mathematics Department.  During this eleven year period, the continued growth of the USMA mathematics program was made possible largely due to Colonel Cameron's wisdom as an educator and sincere devotion to cadet development.  His demand for relevance in all mathematical courses coupled with his belief that students "learn mathematics best by doing mathematics" ensured a sound core mathematics program.

     Colonel Cameron provided invaluable counsel and leadership during a period in the Military Academy's history marked by tremendous change and growth.  The size of the Corps of Cadets increased dramatically, female cadets were admitted to West Point for the first time, the staff and faculty were charged with responding to recommendations by the Borman panel that investigated the 1976 honor scandal, and the curriculum was evaluated and redesigned to accommodate fields of study and disciplinary majors.  Colonel Cameron was an ever present member on numerous committees that supported the Academy.  He was instrumental in selecting permanent associate professors, as well as candidates for admission to USMA.  He helped to reorient the Honor Education Program so that cadets could better develop the sense of honor so vital to the Academy's existence.  Perhaps Colonel Cameron's most noteworthy accomplishment was his reorganization of the mathematics consulting element, allowing students and faculty to support the needs of the Department of Defense with current research.

     With all of his duties in the Mathematics Department and to the Academy, Colonel Cameron still found time to represent USMA in the academic community and Army intellectual circles.  He was a Chair-person at the 27th Conference of Army Mathematicians, he reviewed the Operations Research / Systems Analysis programs at the Naval Postgraduate school, he published modules in Undergraduate Mathematics and its Applications, and held active memberships in the Mathematical Association of America and Phi Kappa Phi.

     On 20 June 1988, after more than thirty-eight years of active duty military service, twenty-eight of which he served at West Point, Brigadier General David H. Cameron retired from the United States Army.
 

Publications:

Cameron, David; Giordano, Frank; Weir, Maurice; "Modeling Using the Derivative: Numerical and Analytical Solutions," Modules and Monographs in Undergraduate Mathematics and its Applications Project, COMAP Inc., 1983.
 

References:

Announcement of Retirement of Brigadier General David H. Cameron, 20 June 1988.

Kolb, Rickey, "Brig Gen David H. Cameron - A Teacher's Teacher," Assembly, December 1988, pages 30-32.

Narrative Justification, Recommendation for Award for Colonel David H. Cameron, 20 June 1988.

1987 Register of Graduates and Former Cadets, Association of Graduates USMA, page 533.

USMA Special Topic Memorandum No. 50, "Soldier Scholar," Department of Mathematics, June 1988.