James Pinter-Lucke, CMC Emeritus Associate Professor of Mathematics, died on September 17, 2025, at age 81.
“Jim’s life was marked by intellectual rigor, adventurous spirit, and devotion to his family and community,” wrote Heather Antecol P’29, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and James G. Boswell Professor of Economics, in a recent message to the CMC community. “I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and the CMC community.”
As Antecol noted, Pinter-Lucke earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Duke University in spring 1969 and began his long tenure with CMC that fall. Over more than four decades, he taught both mathematics and computer science, serving as Chair of what is now the Mathematical Sciences Department, Head of the Computer Science Program, and long-time Chair of the Academic Computing Committee. He also advised graduate students as a valued member of the Claremont Graduate University Extended Graduate Faculty.
Pinter-Lucke’s research spanned pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and pedagogy. His publications included work on the structure and commutativity of rings, optimization in water resource management, and innovative uses of computer graphics and simulation in teaching statistics.
Outside of academics, Pinter-Lucke was an avid climber and hiker, with expeditions in the Andes of South America and adventures that once placed him in Chile during an earthquake. He was the Southern California regional coordinator for Access Fund, which honored him with the Reese Martin Award in 2010 for his leadership in preserving climbing areas. That same year, Pinter-Lucke founded a nonprofit, the Idyllwild Climbers Alliance. Locally, he volunteered at California Botanic Garden in Claremont and served in a leadership role with the Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park.
Pinter-Lucke’s outdoorsmanship intersected with CMC on numerous occasions, including taking a group of inexperienced first-year students to Yosemite on an early iteration of Welcome Orientation Adventure, a program he helped establish at the College. Chelina Odbert ’99 reminisced about the trip in a Facebook tribute: “We encountered bears, snow, mosquitoes, and students who didn’t want to carry a can of beans one inch further… and through it all Professor Pinter-Lucke was calm, encouraging, and filled with endless optimism and humor. He was never my official professor and yet I learned so much from him.”
Pinter-Lucke was also an accomplished woodcarver, using a chisel and mallet to create “everything from a little necklace that was the first gift he ever gave to me, to substantial, expressive pieces,” said his wife, Claudia Pinter-Lucke. “You don’t always think of mathematicians as being so creative, but this was such a big outlet for Jim.”
Additionally, one might not think of a quiet, thoughtful person as having a mischievous side, but Pinter-Lucke certainly did. “It didn’t come up very often,” his wife said, “but when it did, his smile was radiant.”
Pinter-Lucke also enjoyed tennis and, above all, time with his wife, two children, and four grandchildren.
“Jim was so kind and patient and got along with everyone so well,” Claudia said. “He was comfortable talking to anyone, from an undergraduate to a nationally renowned figure, about mathematics, climbing, or any subject.”