Rate My Professor Brian Fitzpatrick

Brian Fitzpatrick is a Senior Lecturer of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at Duke University. He earned his PhD in mathematics from Duke University in 2017 under the supervision of Paul Aspinwall, with a dissertation titled Complete Mirror Pairs. His research interests lie in algebraic geometry, category theory, and homological algebra. As a key member of the department's primary faculty, Fitzpatrick contributes significantly to the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, particularly in foundational mathematics courses essential for students across disciplines. He serves as a contact point for graduate students outside mathematics seeking foundational undergraduate-level courses.

Fitzpatrick is highly regarded for his teaching excellence, delivering courses such as Math 218: Matrices and Vector Spaces across multiple semesters, including Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2024, and Fall 2025, complete with welcome videos and lecture slides hosted on Duke's GitLab platform. He also teaches Math 781: Matrices and Data, tailored for data science applications, and maintains public exam resources for courses like Math 111L. In addition, he has presented on topics such as A Gentle Introduction to Categories and Categorification through Duke Math Videos. His commitment to innovative teaching was recognized with the Top Instructor Award from Duke University on April 9, 2020, for the Fall 2019 semester, where he ranked in the top 5% of undergraduate instructors in the Natural Sciences division for overall quality of course and instructor. Fitzpatrick's professional resources extend to his involvement with Duke's Masters in Data Science program and his active presence on platforms like YouTube and Mathematics Stack Exchange, where he identifies as a Lecturer in Duke's mathematics department. His materials and videos support student learning in linear algebra, vector spaces, and related areas, enhancing accessibility to complex mathematical concepts.