The People of Math Circle

• Instructors
• Speakers
• Directors

Instructors

The Math Circle 2008 graduate student instructors are:

• Yvonne Lai
• Marion Moorer
• Tom Denton

Yvonne is a sixth year graduate student studying hyperbolic geometry and geometric group theory. She has been involved with various summer programs, including the high school camps COSMOS(California Summer School for Mathematics and Science) and the USA/Canada Mathcamp. Yvonne has won awards for teaching and community involvement. Her main interests are in hyperbolic geometry and geometric group theory.c

Marion is a fourth year student working in topology in general and in knot theory in particular. She got her bachelor's degree from U.C. Santa Cruz - hence she was a proud banana slug. She is an excellent cook and can whip a variety of meals from simple ingredients. She also throws great parties, with many different themes.

Tom is a second year student in the Ph.D. program. His mathematical interests are in representation theory symplectic geometry. Tom never learned to drive, figuring it was cheaper to ride a bike. Years later, he is a graduate student in mathematics in one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and political science at the University of Oregron, in Eugene. While there he worked as a bike messenger and taught a class for an alternative high-school program at the Center for Appropriate Transport.

People

Visiting Speakers

The following was the schedule for Math Circle 2007.

Lucas Sabalka received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. He is now a Krener Assistant Professor at U.C. Davis. He triple majored in college, in mathematics, history and computer science along with two minors. He is interested in geometric group theory. He is also an avid ultimate frisbee player with a deadly forehand.

Chris Berg received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from U.C. Santa Barbara in only three years. He is currently working on his Ph.D. with professor Monica Vazirani in representation theory. Along with his beautiful wife, Chris is the proud father of an adorable girl, Kai.

Peter Tingley is a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley studying representation theory, random surface theory, and vertex algebras. He spent the past year teaching 8th grade mathematics at Frick High School, part of the Oakland Unified School District. He received his undergraduate degree from Waterloo University in Canada. He has bicycled twice from Berkeley to Davis.

Marion Moore is a graduate student at U.C. Davis studying topology and knot theory.

Tim Lewis is an associate professor at U.C. Davis. He received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Utah in 1998, and he holds Masters degrees in both mathematics and physiology. He has held positions at McGill University, University of Utah, and the Courant Institute. His research interests are in Mathematical Biology and Neuroscience, and he is the faculty advisor for the Explore Math program.

Emily Peters is a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley studying Von Neumann algebras. She is a former student and former and future staff member of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, a summer program for high school students. Recently, she has taken up pottery.

People

Directors

Hillel Raz has taught different subjects, ranging from mathematics, to chemistry and Hebrew at various levels. He taught geometry at an innovative high school (recently featured on Oprah!) where he dealt with students from a variety of backgrounds and different mathematical abilities.

Hillel is a strong believer in challenging each and every student and setting the ceiling before setting the floor. He was not pushed in junior high and high school, partially due to a language barrier, and hence he strives to find a common language with each student in order to be able to reach, teach and learn from every student.

People