Local Nerd Tries to Look Cool

I am an experienced, certified, energetic practitioner of math and math instruction. 

Decades of experience have taught me that anyone can enjoy, feel confident about, and apply math in their day-to-day. 

I believe that most of the bad experiences we have with the subject aren't about math, or our abilities. 

Rather, they result from bad planning, blunt-force approaches and inauthentic presentation of what ought to be a highly-accessible topic.

Qualifications and Experience

  • Education: BS Math, Cornell University '96, MA in Teaching, Pace University '05, graduate work in statistics and data science at USM Portland

  • Teaching: 5 years in 8th-12th grade classrooms in Brooklyn NY and North Berwick ME (2003-2008)

    • Algebra, intro and secondary

    • Geometry, inclusive of trigonometry

    • Calculus, integral and differential (Ask me about whether we should be teaching calc to 5th graders. [Hint: Yes. Yes we should.])

    • AP Statistics (Ask me about whether we should be teaching stats to 1st graders.)

    • Accelerated program for 8th graders

  • Experience: Over 2 decades applying math to business problems and communicating about math with non-mathematicians, most recently as the Director of Analytics at L.L.Bean (2008-2024)

Portrait of the artist as a young nerd.

Math olympiad trophy? Check. Bowl haircut? You know it. Acclaimed and celebrated by fellow kids for my many achievements? You can't win 'em all.

I've loved math my whole life, and took 5 years mid-career to get my teaching degree and work in public high schools. It was far and away the most difficult work I've ever done, but after I left and returned to industry, I knew I'd want to go back to supporting math learners at some point in the future.

I've lived in Maine for almost 20 years, in Portland and now in Rockland. My wife Laura is an experienced supporter of non-profit technology, and we have two cats, Kirby (for the Aesop Rock song) and Thomas (because ARLGP got them both from St. Thomas after a big hurricane).

I have so, so many records and a stereo that's far too big for our apartment. I make models from kits and from paper. I cook a lot, and read and do yoga and try to stay hydrated. I still wear a tie every day, mostly because I think it looks nice.

Adult nerd, now seated.

That’s one way to get rid of the bowl haircut.