<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><item href="/obituaries/russell-bilyeu.html" dsn="news"><item_date>09/14/2012 12:00:00 AM</item_date><category_header>Obituary</category_header><image><img src="" width="250" height="257" alt=""/></image><firstname>Russell</firstname><middlename>Gene</middlename><maidenname/><lastname>Bilyeu</lastname><suffix/><graduation-Year>'52,</graduation-Year><relationship-to-university>Alumni</relationship-to-university><degree-program-completed>'57 M.S.</degree-program-completed><position-held-at-the-university/><title>Russell Bilyeu</title><author/><type>obituary</type><categories/><relationships><relationship>Alumni</relationship></relationships><main-content>Russell Gene Bilyeu (’52, ’57 M.S.), Professor Emeritus of mathematics, died March 12 in Chico. He served on the math faculty from 1960 to 2000. He was a member of the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society. Prior to joining UNT, he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and was employed by Chance Vought Aircraft. Bilyeu earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in math from North Texas and a doctoral degree from the University of Kansas. Bilyeu grew up in Krum and graduated from Krum High School with a love for mathematics and basketball. After retiring, he moved to the country with his son where he attended high school basketball games, learned guitar and became a Texas Master Naturalist, protecting native grasslands and developing his skills as an avid bird watcher.</main-content></item>