John Mighton, OC (born October 2, 1957) is a Canadian mathematician, author, and playwright.

Education and career

Mighton was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

on and lives in Toronto, Ontario with partner

Pamela Sinha Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

and daughter Chloe. In 1998 Mighton founded a highly successful math tutoring program. In 2002, based on the methods developed in the tutoring program, he founded JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) Math, a charitable organization that works to educate students in mathematics, and to promote those methods in the education system. Mighton points out that any child who learns language is capable of learning math. As a playwright, Mighton has been the recipient of the

Siminovitch Prize in Theatre The Siminovitch Prize is Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers. $100,000 is awarded annually, and for recipients, who are given the public recognition and financial resources, it i ...

, two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama, the Dora Award, and the Chalmers Award. His plays include ''

Possible Worlds Possible Worlds may refer to: * Possible worlds, concept in philosophy * ''Possible Worlds'' (play), 1990 play by John Mighton ** ''Possible Worlds'' (film), 2000 film by Robert Lepage, based on the play * Possible Worlds (studio) * ''Possible Wo ...

'', ''The Little Years'', ''Body & Soul'', ''Scientific Americans'', ''A Short History of Night'', and ''Half Life''. Mighton completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and was awarded an

NSERC The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...

fellowship for postdoctoral research in

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

and

graph theory In mathematics, graph theory is the study of ''graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conne ...

. He is a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences and has taught mathematics at the University of Toronto. Mighton also lectured in philosophy at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

, where he received a Masters in philosophy. In 1997, Mighton played an assistant math professor in the critically acclaimed film ''

Good Will Hunting ''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver. The film received positive r ...

''.

Awards and honors

* 10th Annual Egerton Ryerson Award for Dedication to Public Education (2016) * Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2015) * Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2014)http://www.ey.com/ca/en/about-us/entrepreneurship/entrepreneur-of-the-year/ey-entrepreneur-of-the-year-national-2014-award-winners * Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

^{/sup> (2010)
* Ashoka

Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
Fellow (2004)

Publications

* ''The Myth of Ability'' (2003)
* ''All Things Being Equal: Why Math Is the Key to a Better World'' (2020)

Filmography

*''Good Will Hunting

''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver.

The film received positive r ...
'' (1997): Tom - Lambeau's Teaching Assistant
*''Hokees'' (Short Film) (2000)

References

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mighton, John
Mathematics writers
Living people
1957 births
Officers of the Order of Canada
University of Toronto alumni
University of Toronto faculty
20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Canadian mathematicians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian non-fiction writers
Governor General's Award-winning dramatists
Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
Male actors from Hamilton, Ontario
Writers from Hamilton, Ontario
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
Canadian male non-fiction writers}