Gene Abrams
Professor of Mathematics, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Gene Abrams is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where he has been on faculty since 1983. His primary research focus is in algebra, most recently in structures known as “Leavitt path algebras”. He has great interest in the mathematics education of K-12 students and their teachers. Some of his recent activities along those lines include participation in the Park City Mathematics Institute; Mathematicians in Mathematics Education Workshop; Pikes Peak Math Teacher's Circles; and Colorado Springs Sky Sox Baseball Math Youth Day. He is a recipient of the UCCS Campuswide Teaching Award and the MAA Rocky Mountain Section Outstanding Teaching Award, and has been designated as a University of Colorado's President's Teaching Scholar. In his spare time he enjoys mountain biking, skiing, and baseball (playing, watching, breathing, …).
Hannah Alpert
University of Chicago
Math Circle alumna and Fairview HS graduate Hannah Alpert is currently an undergraduate math major at the University of Chicago. A Goldwater scholar and co-winner of the 2010 Alice T. Schafer prize, Hannah participated in the International Mathematics Competition in Bulgaria in July 2010. Other programs she has attended include the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, the Lafayette College REU, the University of Minnesota at Duluth REU, the Willamette University REU, and the Hampshire Summer Studies in Math (HCSSiM).
Timothy Brown
Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Telecommunications, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor Brown received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1991. He has taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder since 1995. Professor Brown's research interests are adaptive and massively parallel computational approaches in communication systems, applying them to problems in switching, networking, and wireless.
Silva Chang
Director of Colorado Math Circle
Silva Chang is the founder of the Colorado Math Circle. Born and raised in New York City, she participated in ARML as a member of the NYC math team during her high school years and attended the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Math (HCSSiM). At Oberlin College Silva double majored in mathematics and East Asian Studies, then received an M.S./M.Phil in computer science from Yale University. She has worked as a software developer, a website developer, and a manager in a tea shop.
When not running the math circle, coaching the ARML Team, or leading the Sophie Math workshops, Silva teaches in the Applied Math department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2010 she was nominated for the John and Mercedes Peebles Innovation in Education Award. Adviser to the Fairview HS Math Club, Silva is a five-time coach of the Colorado MATHCOUNTS Team. She is a member of the Colorado Mathematics Awards Steering Committee and has taught at the MathPath summer camp for advanced middle school students for the past two years.
Vivek Dhand
Vivek Dhand studied math and physics as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, and also worked in the Young Scholars Program there. He went on to get his doctorate at Northwestern University. While teaching as a graduate student, Vivek also tutored high school students, adults returning to school, and even a precocious fourth grader. He spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at Michigan State University. His research focuses on the fundamental symmetries that arise throughout mathematics, and how they affect familiar everyday structures like numbers, networks, music, and origami.
Sam Elder
California Institute of Technology
Math Circle alumnus and Poudre HS graduate Sam Elder is currently an undergraduate student at Caltech. He won honorable mention in the 2008 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Sam was a USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) winner and International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team alternate in 2008. He attended the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) twice and won numerous math contests during his high school years, including the Colorado Mathematical Olympiad, CSU Math Day Competition, UNC Math Contest, and Colorado Mathematics League. In 2006 Sam achieved a perfect score in the AMC 10, and in 2008 he did the same in both the AMC 12 and AIME. He also placed fourth in the 2004 National MATHCOUNTS Competition.
Richard Gibbs
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Fort Lewis College
Professor Gibbs received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Michigan State University in 1970, then taught in the Fort Lewis College Mathematics Department from 1971 to 2000. Professor Gibbs has a special interest in teacher education and problem solving. He is active in the NCTM, CCTM, and MAA, and served as an adviser for the American Mathematics Competitions from 1983 to 2000: first as a panelist, then AHSME committee member, then chair of the Committee on American Mathematics Competitions. Professor Gibbs is also co-chair of the Colorado Mathematics Awards ceremony which started in 1996.
Richard Grassl
Professor of Mathematics, University of Northern Colorado
Professor Grassl received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of New Mexico in 1974. He has taught at the University of Northern Colorado since 1991. Professor Grassl's interests include discrete mathematics, combinatorics, problem solving courses, mathematics competitions, abstract algebra, mathematics education, proof in mathematics, preparation of secondary teachers, and the use of TI-92 and EXCEL in discrete mathematics. He founded and directs the annual UNC Mathematics Contest.
Elgin Johnston
Professor of Mathematics, Iowa State University
Elgin Johnston earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana in 1977. He has been a faculty member at Iowa State University since 1977. Prof. Johnston was Chair of the AIME Committee from 1990 through 1995, instructor at MOSP from 1995 through 1998, Deputy Leader of the IMO team in 1997 (Argentina) and 1998 (Taiwan), Chair of the Committee on American Mathematics Competitions from 2003 through 2008, and Problems Editor for Mathematics Magazine since 2000. On a local level he coaches the Ames High Math team and leads the Ames Math Circle.
Bart Kastermans
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, University of Colorado at Boulder
Bart Kastermans was born and raised in the Netherlands. He did his undergraduate studies at the VU University in Amsterdam, and he completed his Ph.D. in mathematical logic at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After this he did post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Congming Li
Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor Li received a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, a M.S. in Mathematics from the Institute of System Sciences of Academia Sinica in Beijing, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the Courant Institute of New York University. He has served as visiting faculty member at the University of California at Riverside, Caltech, MSRI, Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, and University of Pennsylvania. Professor Li's research interests are nonlinear partial differential equations, calculus of variations, differential geometry, and nonlinear analysis. He has been a member of the CU-Boulder Department of Applied Mathematics since 1992.
James Meiss
Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor Meiss received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980. He worked at the Institute for Fusion Studies, at the University of Texas, before joining the CU-Boulder Department of Applied Mathematics in 1989. A fellow of the American Physical Society, Professor Meiss is the author of Differential Dynamical Systems.
Rich Morrow
Mathematics Teacher and MATHCOUNTS Coach, Challenge School
Rich Morrow has been a math teacher and MATHCOUNTS coach at the Challenge School in Denver for the past fifteen years. He is one of the few coaches who has led his school to a MATHCOUNTS state championship in two different states: Colorado and California. In addition, Mr. Morrow has taught at the University of California at Los Angeles, University of Colorado at Denver, CU Science Discovery Program, and Kaplan Educational Centers. In 1997 the Mathematical Association of America named Mr. Morrow a winner of the Edyth May Sliffe Award, and in 2003 the Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics honored him with the Secondary Teacher of the Year award. A National Board Certified Teacher, Mr. Morrow has a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a M.A. in instructional design from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a C.Phil. in philosophy and logic from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Richard Rusczyk
AoPS Incorporated
Richard Rusczyk founded AoPS Incorporated in 2003 to create interactive educational opportunities for avid math students. He is one of the co-authors of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks, author of Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Algebra and Introduction to Geometry textbooks, one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the Director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search. Richard Rusczyk was a participant in National MATHCOUNTS, a three-time participant in the Math Olympiad Summer Program, and a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner (1989). He graduated from Princeton University in 1993, helped inaugurate ESPN's SportsFigures program, and worked as a bond trader for D.E. Shaw & Company for four years. AoPS marks his return to his vocation—educating motivated students.
Ming Song
Senior Research Engineer, Metso Minerals Industrial, Inc.
Dr. Ming Song received a PhD in Engineering Thermophysics from Nanjing University of Science and Technology in 1988. He has worked as a professor at Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NUST), guest professor at University of Dortmund, Germany, and research fellow at University of Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Song has won numerous honors, including Excellence in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching at NUST, as well as awards from the State Council and State Education Commission of China: Most Distinguished Chinese Doctor, Outstanding Young Scientist in China, Research Prize for Young Scientists, and Science and Technology Research Prize. Dr. Song has been honored by Chinese President Jiang Zemin for university teaching and research, and by German President Richard von Weizsaecker for achievements in scientific research.
With more than 60 published papers, Dr. Song is currently a senior research engineer at Metso Minerals Industrial, Inc., Colorado Springs, specializing in statistical analysis, data mining, and computational fluid dynamics. He is an enthusiastic fan of all things mathematical.
Amelia Taylor
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Colorado College
Amelia was born in Wyoming and grew up in Dillon, CO. She attended St. Olaf College as an undergraduate and later worked there as a faculty member. She attended Purdue University for most of her graduate school, but when her adviser moved to the University of Kansas, she followed, getting a Ph.D. in May, 2000. Then Amelia headed out East for a postdoctoral position at Rutgers University and after three years at St. Olaf, she is now in her second year as a faculty member at Colorado College. Amelia spends most of her free time climbing, skiing, running, and working in her garden.