Indeed, the early days were not very easy, since the chair for Mathematics had been attached to the Faculty of Arts and was intended primarily for the training of graduates in Medicine. Since Mathematics was not a compulsory subject at that time, it had a low participation by students.
Things improved with the new curriculum of 1772 and Luis Marcelino Pereira took charge of its teaching. He was a professor of José Rodríguez González, the mathematician from Bermés, an illustrious scientist who can be considered the first great Galician mathematician.
The review of university studies that took place in 1807 clearly favoured the development of mathematics at USC, since from then on it was necessary to study Elementary Mathematics for any career. In addition, at that time the new chair of Sublime Mathematics was created, with a higher level, which served to project emblematic figures, such as that of Rodriguez himself, and later that of his disciple, Domingo Fontán.
Both chairs, Elementary Mathematics and Sublime Mathematics, lasted throughout the nineteenth century, associated with the names of Cristobal Pecul, Joaquin Patiño, Juan Antonio Mojon, Jose Vega, Jose Fernandez Losada or Luis Pose Varela, apart from the already named and distinguished Jose Rodriguez and Domingo Fontán.
Another positive step was undoubtedly the creation, in 1857, of the Faculty of Science, where mathematics gained prominence thanks to the creation of the subject which complemented Mathematics: Algebra and Geometry. This chair was occupied by José Ramón de Luanco y Riego, and Manuel Ulloa Ibarzábal was later commissioned to take it over. Unfortunately the Faculty of Science was abolished in 1874.
In the 19th century, it is also worth noting the establishment of the first Galician secondary schools: Lugo (1842), Santiago de Compostela (1845), Pontevedra (1845), Ourense (1845), Monforte de Lemos (1848) and A Coruña (1865).
Other centres where mathematics were cultivated and taught in Galicia during all this time were the Academy of Marine Guards in Ferrol (1776-1823) or the Royal Consulate of A Coruña (1785-1833), with a continuation in the Trade and Nautical Schools, the Military College of Santiago de Compostela (1811-1823), the Normal Schools from 1841 (later called Teacher Training Schools, now converted into faculties), the Floating Naval School (1869-1908), and also, from 1876, the Schools of Arts and Crafts, as well as the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country, which began their activities seven years later. Already at the beginning of the last century, the Vigo School of Industry (currently the School of Industrial Engineering) should be highlighted.
The oblivion to which mathematics was subjected at the University of Compostela from the end of the 19th century until well into the 20th century was broken by the creation of two important chairs: that of Mathematical Analysis and Analytical Geometry. The first was occupied by José María Orts Aracil and the second by Olegario Fernández Baños. The high level achieved with the presence of these two professors motivated the first two courses of Exact Sciences (now Mathematics) to be taken at USC.
Professor Fernández Baños had already noticed at that time the mathematical and astronomical production of the Lalinese priest Ramón María Aller Ulloa, who had a private observatory in his hometown with an extraordinary scientific projection, and invited him, without success, to join as an assistant for practical classes.
In 1934, the transfer of Fernández Baños to the Central University of Madrid allowed the arrival, after the corresponding public exam, of a new Professor of Geometry, the Galician Professor José Rodríguez Sanz. Rodríguez Sanz was responsible for the creation of the Durán Loriga Mathematics Seminar (1935-1936), named after the outstanding mathematician from A Coruña. Years before, Father José Cepeda Vidal had also joined the Faculty of Science as a temporary assistant in the teaching of Mathematics, being later the secretary of the Seminar.
In the nine months of its life, before its end in July 1936, the Seminar showed unprecedented activity. Today, the eight works published there can be consulted at our faculty library. However, all the ideas and projects that Rodríguez Sanz had in mind, such as the creation of the Legal Mathematical Institute or even the Chemistry Institute, could not be carried out.
When the Civil War ended and Rodríguez Sanz and Father Cepeda having died, the teaching staff of Mathematics was reduced to Rafael Pavón, assistant professor, and Arbalza Basoa, although the latter was a specialist in Physics and Meteorology. It was under these circumstances that Ramón María Aller finally accepted to join the teaching staff of the Alma Mater to take charge of the subjects of Mathematical Analysis and Analytical Geometry in the intensive courses that began in 1939. Little by little, thanks to the efforts of Enrique Vidal Abascal, a high school professor and friend of Father Aller, the Astronomical Observatory of Lalín was moved to Compostela and, in 1945, Vidal, trying to revive the spirit of the Mathematical Seminar, created the Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Astronomy Durán Loriga at the Observatory.
Once again, Galician mathematicians had a reference that served as a pole of attraction around the figures of Aller and Vidal, and their results were highly satisfactory. This is demonstrated by the large number of publications produced mainly by Vidal Abascal and the high school professor Eduardo García-Rodeja, but also by others such as Ramón María Aller, Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, Rafael Cid, Jesús Costa, Juan Antonio Zaera, etc.
The curriculum of 1943 produced another setback in mathematics, which was relegated to the first two courses of Chemistry, but with the positive note of the incorporation of Vidal Abascal as head of the chair and Antonia Ferrín Moreiras as assistant.
The successful efforts of Vidal Abascal, supported by Aller Ulloa (Professor of Astronomy) and Ferrín Moreiras, led, with the effort of the three, to the Durán Loriga Department being the cradle of what would become the Mathematics department in the Faculty of Science. It was in the 1957-1958 academic year that the degree in Mathematics was initiated, with a small faculty but with great enthusiasm and the certainty that what was being done would have important results in the future; which it did.
In 1962 the building of the Faculty of Science (today the Faculty of Chemistry) was inaugurated, and the Mathematics Department was also moved there, finally constituted as a faculty in 1977, with Professor Enrique Vidal Abascal as its first dean.
It should be noted that the first graduates in Mathematics from the USC (1962-63 academic year) were María Paz Bujanda, María Jesús Cordón López, María del Carmen del Río Vázquez, María Dolores Prada Vicente, Lidia Rodríguez and José Manuel Amor Bouza.
Likewise, in 1963, Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, under the direction of Ramón María Aller, became the first Doctor of Mathematics at USC, while Professor Vidal promoted and organised in Santiago, the first International Congress of Mathematics in Spain.
The faculty moved to its current location in 1983.
The 2017-18 academic year marked the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Mathematics studies and 40 years of Mathematics as a faculty of the USC.