San Diego-area Educator Wins International Mathematics Education Award
Alpine, CA (PRWEB) March 21, 2014 -- San Diego-area educator wins international mathematics education award.
Richard Rusczyk, the founder and CEO of the math education website Art of Problem Solving, has been awarded the 2014 Paul Erdös Award by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions (WFNMC), an affiliated study group of the International Commission for Mathematical Instruction. Rusczyk, a resident of Alpine, becomes just the 7th American since 1992 to win this award.
The Erdös Award was established to recognize “mathematicians who have contributed to mathematics enrichment in their own countries or internationally.” The award is named after Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdös (1913-1996), who was one of the most prominent and prolific mathematicians of the 20th century. WFNMC describes in its citation for Rusczyk’s award, “In any given field of human endeavor, it is rare to be able to say that a single person has changed the entire landscape. But in the area of mathematics competition, it may be claimed that Richard Rusczyk has done exactly that.”
“I am honored to receive the Paul Erdos award, and to be in the company of the eminent mathematics educators who have won this award in previous years,” said Rusczyk. “This is really an award for the entire staff of Art of Problem Solving, and for the tens of thousands of students and teachers whom we've had the pleasure of working with over the past 11 years.”
In 2003, Rusczyk founded the website Art of Problem Solving as an online community for students interested in mathematics competitions. Today, Art of Problem Solving is the largest online community of avid math students in the English-speaking world, with over 140,000 members and over 3 million posts. According to the WFNMC award citation, “Richard Rusczyk has redefined how talented students interact with one another and how connected the math contest community is.”
Rusczyk also founded and is president of the Art of Problem Solving Foundation, a nonprofit charity dedicated to promoting mathematical problem solving among middle and high school students in the U.S., and which sponsors a free summer math program for underrepresented 7th grade students from New York City. Rusczyk is also a co-founder of the Mandelbrot Competition and is the founder of the San Diego Math Circle, a Saturday-morning math enrichment program for students in grades 5-12 at UC San Diego.
Rusczyk will accept the Erdös award in July, 2014 at the 7th International Congress of the WFNMC in Barranquilla, Colombia.
About Art of Problem Solving
Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), founded in 2003, is the leading website for avid math students in the English-speaking world. Its online community at aops.com has over 140,000 members and over 3 million posts. AoPS also runs an online school, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which offers 29 courses for middle and high school students in math, computer science, and chemistry. AoPS publishes two series of textbooks: a series covering middle and high school mathematics from preaglebra to calculus, and the “Beast Academy” series of illustrated guidebooks and workbooks for avid math students in grades 2-5. AoPS is a national sponsor of MATHCOUNTS, the American Mathematics Competitions, and the American Regions Mathematics League.
http://www.aops.com
About the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions
The World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions (WFNMC), founded in 1984, is an Affiliated Study Group of the International Commission for Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), an international non-governmental, nonprofit scientific organization founded in 1908 to promote international cooperation in mathematics education. WFNMC aims to promote excellence in mathematics education through the use of school mathematics competitions. Every two years, WFNMC selects up to 3 mathematicians for the Paul Erdös Award, to recognize those who have contributed to mathematics enrichment in their own countries or internationally.
http://www.wfnmc.org
Contact:
Art of Problem Solving
PO Box 2185
Alpine, CA 91903-2185
Voice: (619) 659-1612
Fax: (855) 430-9531
Email: info(at)aops(dot)com
Media inquiries: contact David Patrick at patrick(at)aops(dot)com
David Patrick, AoPS, http://www.aops.com, +1 (619) 659-1612, [email protected]
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