Instructors
Mihai Azimioara - Mr. Azimioara received his BS in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and his Master of Arts from Harvard University and is currently an Associate Scientist at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. As a break from research in medicinal chemistry related to the role of small molecules in enzymatic reactions underlying disease, Mr. Azimioara enjoys teaching mathematics to young students. Besides doing so at SDMC, Mr. Azimioara teaches after-school enrichment classes in mathematics at Doyle Elementary School.
David Balmin - David Balmin earned his MS degree in Mathematics from Donetsk State University in the former U.S.S.R. He has worked as a computer software engineer over thirty years in the United States, specializing in scientific, mathematical, and engineering applications. In high school, he successfully participated in Math Olympiads. Currently retired from computer-related work, he now specializes in advanced math tutoring. David and his wife Ann and live in the San Carlos area of San Diego, not far from San Diego State University. Among his other interests are chess, music, foreign languages, developing Android mobile phone applications, reading, sailing and bicycle riding.
Agustin Bravo - Mr. Bravo holds degrees in Electronic and Communications Engineering and Industrial Electronics Engineering from México's Universidad Iberoamericana and Instituto Tecnologico de Tijuana, respectively. He has worked for SANYO to design, consolidate and implement their Data Center and Wide Area Network, and currently supports the San Diego Superior Court IT Division as a Project Manager / IT Specialist.
Jack Brennen - Jack Brennen is a Sr. Staff Engineer working for Qualcomm. He was very involved in math competition from ages 11 through 18, including 5 ARML competitions, 6 AHSME (now AMC-12) exams, 4 time MOSP participant and 3 time USAMO participant. In his HS senior year, he managed a perfect 8 on the ARML individual round, a 145 out of 150 on the AHSME, and an Honorable Mention on the USAMO. He still keeps busy with mathematical diversions, mostly in the field of computational number theory, and he believes that if a computer is powered on, it should be working on some sort of math problem.
Dr. David W. Brown - Dr. Brown received his Bachelors degree in mathematics and physics from Bucknell University, and his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Rochester. Following a career as an interdisciplinary research scientist at UCSD, his children led him to a heightened appreciation for the exceptional needs of gifted youth and to involvement with non-traditional education. Dr. Brown enjoys finding creative ways of opening young minds to new ideas. In SDMC he sees the opportunity to provide enriching experiences for talented young people who thrive on challenge, within a peer group that is self-selected for their aptitude and enthusiasm for mathematics.
Lucas Brown - A senior at Rancho Bernardo High School, Lucas has been an SDMC participant since 2005. He is a multi-year AMC medalist, AIME qualifier, and ARML team member, and in 2010 placed first in the nation in the AAPT PhysicsBowl. A strongly accelerated student, Lucas completed AP Calculus in 8th grade, which has since required innovative blending of traditional schooling with a program of advanced studies through EPGY at Stanford University that has grown to include nearly a dozen university-level courses in mathematics and physics. His current emphasis is in Classical Mechanics and Real Analysis. Beyond the Math Circle, he is an avid participant in local Academic League and National Academic Quiz Tournaments. He enjoys Edgar Allan Poe, xkcd, backpacking, programming, chaos, and fractals.
Dr. Joe Buhler - Dr. Buhler received his Bachelor's Degree from Reed College in 1972 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1977. He has been on the Mathematics faculty at Reed College in Portland, was the Deputy Director at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, and is currently the Director of the Center for Communications Research in San Diego. While at Berkeley he worked with the Berkeley Math Circle and the Bay Area Mathematics Olympiad committee, giving talks there on number theory, discrete geometry, and juggling.
Dr. Irina Kufareva - Dr. Kufareva received a Master of Science in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1994 and 1999, respectively, both from Tomsk State University, Russia. She currently works as a computational biologist for the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. Working with youth and creative math problem solving are two of her greatest hobbies, so she spend her free time organizing and volunteering for middle and high school math clubs in Carmel Valley.
Janine LoBue - Janine is currently a first-year graduate student at UCSD in the Mathematics Department as a GAAAN fellow. She is a 2009 graduate of Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University, Maryland) with a double major in Mathematical Sciences (concentration Pure Math) and Computer Science. While in college, she participated in the Putnam Exam and Mathematical Contest in Modeling and was a recipient of a Goldwater Fellowship in 2007.
Dr. Yana Mohanty - Dr. Mohanty is a native of Odessa, Ukraine. She came to the United States in 1979. After graduating from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, she worked at Hughes Aircraft, and subsequently earned her Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1997 she started the doctoral program in Mathematics at UCSD, and graduated in 2002. Since then taught mathematics for 5 years at UCSD, and for 1 year at Palomar college. Dr. Mohanty is currently pursuing her Single Subject Teaching Credential in mathematics.
Dr. Eran Mukamel - As a physicist, I am fascinated by the search for basic principles that could explain nature's most sophisticated, and from our perspective one of its most important, physical objects: the brain. My research uses techniques from physics and applied mathematics, such as information theory and dynamical systems modeling, to try to understand the organization of electrical activity in networks of brain cells. I have developed computational techniques for processing large scale data sets, such as fluorescence movies of hundreds of brain cells recorded in a behaving animal. My current research focuses on changes in the dynamics of the human brain that accompany transitions between macroscopic states of consciousness, such as in general anesthesia or sleep.
Dr. David Patrick - Dr. Patrick earned the sole perfect score on the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME) in 1988 and was a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner that year. He also attended the Research Science Institute (RSI) in 1987 and the Math Olympiad Summer Program in 1988, and finished in the top 10 of the Putnam exam in 1991. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 1992 and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at MIT in 1997. He wrote Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Counting & Probability textbook.
Dr. Zikica Perovic - Dr. Perovic earned his Bachelors and Master of Science degrees from the University of Belgrade and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, in aspects of mathematical logic. Since, he has taught in the former Yugoslavia, in Minnesota and Ohio, and currently teaches at Mira Costa College. Dr. Perovic's main interest is in the area of ordered algebraic structures, and is particularly interested in Boolean algebras and model theory
Shannon Rogers - Shannon earned her bachelor's degree in Mathematics from UCLA. While attending UCLA, she spent many hours in classrooms at the UCLA Lab School and worked with the Los Angeles Math Circle. She was the Lead Instructor for the LAMC Junior Group in 2010, and spent the summer assisting math classes with Johns Hopkins University's Center For Talented Youth (CTY) summer programs. Shannon joined Art of Problem Solving in 2011, and is currently developing the workbooks for their Beast Academy series. Shes loves math jokes and all things combinatorics.
Richard Rusczyk - Mr. Rusczyk founded AoPS Inc in 2003 to create interactive educational opportunities for avid math students. Richard 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. He 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 Richard's return to his vocation - educating motivated students. This year he is co-teaching a year-long series of SDMC classes onCounting and Probabilitybased on the Art of Problem Solving text Introduction to Counting and Probability, by David Patrick.
Naoki Sato - Mr. Sato won first place in the 1993 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad, and represented Canada at the 1992 and 1993 International Mathematical Olympiads, winning a bronze and silver medal, respectively. He has also served as deputy leader for the Canadian IMO team in 1997 and 2002. Naoki earned a Bachelor's in mathematics at the University of Toronto, and a Master's in mathematics at Yale University. He is originally from Toronto, Canada. Since 2005 he has been on the staff of The Art of Problem Solving.
Dr. Richard Stong - Dr. Stong received his bachelor's degree from Washington University and a doctorate from Harvard, and makes his San Diego home at the Center for Communications Research. Dr. Stong's research interest is in the topology of four-dimensional manifolds, which has practical applications for computer science. A silver medalist at the 1981 International Mathematical Olympiad, he continues to support mathematics competitions as a member of the USAMO Committee. As a professor at Rice University noted for the quality of his teaching and accessibility to students, to "Stong it" became a slang phrase among students meaning to ask Prof. Stong for help on challenging homework.
Carolyn Swayze - Carolyn has a BS in Engineering from The University of Michigan and an MS in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Northwestern University. She worked on the development of airbag sensor technology as an engineer in Detroit before moving to San Diego to start a family with her husband Eric. After several years as a full-time mom, Carolyn stepped up to coach the math team to support her son Thomas’s enthusiasm for math competitions. She now works part-time as a math teacher at The Rhoades School and helps support SDMC activities as an occasional instructor and as Parent Coordinator for the ARML team.
Thomas Swayze - Thomas has been a math enthusiast for as long as he can remember. He is a two-time San Diego County MATHCOUNTS champion and frequent award-winner in local and regional high school math competitions. Thomas has qualified for USAMO every year since eighth grade and has attended MOP twice (so far!). He attends Canyon Crest Academy and continues to pursue hard problems in his quest to achieve mathematical understanding. Thomas is employed as a little league baseball umpire and studies both classical and jazz piano. In his free time, Thomas enjoys ski weekends at Mammoth, playing rock band, climbing trees, bike riding, golf, and academic league.
Mark Tiefenbruck - Bio TBA
David Vaughn - David Vaughn is a founder and owner of ClariVest Asset Management, where he manages international, global, and emerging market equity portfolios using quantitatively-based techniques. He received a Bachelors Degree from Caltech in Economics and an MS in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon, and has been awarded the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation. As an undergraduate, David was on the instructional staff of Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY) for two summers. In high school in Texas, he competed in numerous math and science competitions, winning first place in Science at the TMSCA State Contest four years in a row, as well as being the top scorer in Chemistry in the UIL State Contest as a senior. He enjoys playing tennis and table tennis.
Valentin Vornicu - Originally from Romania, Valentin has been involved with the Math Olympiad since middle school. Among many prizes and accolades, he ultimately won the Bronze Medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2002, and has since coached numerous successful Olympiad students. Valentin also wrote the widely used Romanian text, "The Math Olympiad, from Challenge to Experience." Valentin holds a Master's in Mathematics from the University of Bucharest. Since 2004, he has worked as an instructor at AoPS. In his free time he enjoys basketball, soccer and the beach.
Dr. Chris Wright - Dr. Wright holds a PhD and an MS in Mathematics from Stanford University. He has served as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Duke University and a software engineer and designer. For the last ten years, he has devoted his time to teaching math in and around San Diego County and currently teaches at Pacific Ridge School. He is writing a series of math books for parents helping their children with math called Dr. Wright's Kitchen Table Math. This year Dr. Wright is co-teaching a year-long series of SDMC classes on Counting and Probability based on the Art of Problem Solving text Introduction to Counting and Probability, by David Patrick.
Hao Ye - Mr. Ye received his Bachelors degree from Caltech in Computer Science and is currently studying ecosystem dynamics and nonlinear forecasting as part of a Biological Oceanography degree. He was on the Maryland National MathCounts team, and was on his high school's ARML team for four consecutive years. He continues to be involved with high school youth through teaching SDMC classes and coaching our ARML team.
Dr. Ken Zeger - Dr. Zeger received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 1984, and a Master of Arts in Mathematics and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1989 and 1990, respectively. He was a Presidential Young Investigator in 1991 and became a fellow of IEEE in 2000. He is presently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Co-Director of Information and Coding Laboratory at UCSD.
Dr. Paul Zeitz - Paul Zeitz is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of San Francisco and Director of the San Francisco Math Circle. In 1974 he won the USAMO and was a member of the first American team to participate in the IMO. The following year he graduated from Stuyvesant High School. He earned a Westinghouse scholarship and graduated from Harvard University in 1980. Since 1985, he has composed and edited problems for several national math contests, including the USAMO. He has helped train several American IMO teams, most notably the 1994 "Dream Team", the only team from any country to ever score a perfect 252 in the Olympiad. Zeitz founded the Bay Area Math Meet in 1994 and co-founded the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad in 1999. In 1999 he wrote popular book The Art and Craft of Problem Solving and has recently created a video course with the same title for The Teaching Company. In 2003 Zeitz received from the MAA the prestigious Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for excellence in university teaching.
PAST INSTRUCTORS
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Dr. Bijan Arbab, Dr. Farhad Arbab, Bruce Arnold, Levon Budagyan, Dr. Sam Buss, Robert Cordwell, Adrian Duane, Larry Evans, Dr. Kiran Kedlaya, Vincent Le, Sean Markan, Andrew Niedermaier, Shirine SafiniaPrevious page: ARML Team
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