James Stuart Tanton (born August 1, 1966) is a mathematician and math educator. He is a winner of the Kidder Faculty Prize for his teaching at The St. Mark’s Math Institute, scholar at the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

, author of over ten books on mathematics, curriculum, and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, and creator of videos on mathematics on

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. As of February 2020 his approximately 190 videos had earned over 800,000 views.

Education and professional work

Tanton received his B.A. in mathematics from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, and he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1994, with a thesis in

algebraic topology Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariant (mathematics), invariants that classification theorem, classify topological spaces up t ...

titled ''A Homological Fibration for Gl

nfinity Nfinity is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. Nfinity markets cheerleading, basketball, and volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score poi ...

'. He taught at the New College,

St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...

, and

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

before deciding that, to gain credibility with the high school teachers he hoped to work with, he had to teach high school himself. Tanton taught at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts, from 2002 to 2011. As a presenter working with

Maths Week Ireland Maths Week Ireland (MWI) is an all-island (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) mathematics outreach initiative founded in 2006 by Eoin Gill and Sheila Donegan, based on an idea by Eoin Gill. It is a project of the Centre for the Advancement o ...

, Tanton has worked to create interest in mathematics in schools in both parts of Ireland.Maths Week 2020 launches with bumper programme of activity to help people ‘Rethink Maths’

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ga, Fondúireacht Eolaíochta Éireann) is the statutory body in Ireland with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM ...

Currently he is a visiting scholar at the Mathematical Association of America in Washington, DC.

Selected awards and honors

* MathMovesU Math Hero Award for mathematics middle and high school teaching, sponsored by

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

Company, 2010 * The Kidder Faculty Prize for teaching at St. Mark’s School, 2006 * The Mathematical Association of America's Beckenback Book Prize for ''Solve This: Mathematical Activities for Students and Clubs,'' 2005 * The Mathematical Association of America's

Trevor Evans Award The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

for distinguished writing in both 2001 and 2002 * Homer L. Dodge Award for college teaching excellence at The St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 1999 * Princeton University Engineering Council Teaching Award, for teaching excellence, 1994

Selected books by Tanton

''Mathematics Galore: The First Five Years of the St. Mark’s Institute of Mathematics'', Mathematical Association of America, 2012
'' The Encyclopedia of Mathematics'', Facts on File.2005.
''Solve This: Mathematical Activities for Students and Clubs,'' Mathematical Association of America, 2001.

Self-published texts and curricular material

''THINKING MATHEMATICS!'' series: * ''Volume 1: Arithmetic = Gateway to All'' * ''Volume 2: Advanced Counting and Advanced Algebra Systems'' * ''Volume 3: Lines, Circles, Trigonometry and Conics'' * ''Volume 4: Functions and their Graphs '' * ''Volume 5: e, i, pi and all that! '' * ''Volume 6: Calculus '' ''GEOMETRY: Volume I'' and ''GEOMETRY: Volume 2''
''MATH WITHOUT WORDS''
''MATHEMATICAL THINKING: Numbers and their Algebra'' (An advanced course for middle-school students and their teachers.)

References

External links

Thinking Mathematics!
James Tanton's Personal Website *

article and presentation by James Tanton {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanton, James 1966 births Living people Mathematics educators Mathematics popularizers Princeton University alumni University of Adelaide alumni Mathematics writers