After graduating from Saint Joseph's College
in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Phil Gilbert began studies for
the Priesthood with the Society of the Precious Blood. In 1961, following ordination and the year of
internship type training as a priest, he was assigned to
A few summer sessions at Purdue University provided
him with some experience in Numerical Analysis along with a bit of probability
and statistics.
In 1973, a fire destroyed the
Administration Building on the SJC campus.
At the time, that building housed the so-called "math lab." Such
a name was in vogue during those days to describe such places which displayed
manipulative materials for elementary through secondary school
mathematics. The replacement math lab
was then set up in its new place on the third floor of Xavier Hall -- as it was
named then; it is currently "The McHale Building; Xavier Hall". This restoration was done with the support of
the then reigning administrative officers, and a host of student workers.
In 2009, the math items were transferred to the
Evans Science and Arts Building, room 207. There the math objects are available
to the students in PLE (Professional Learning Experiences) for their utilization
in the elementary and secondary classrooms.