Opening Session: If You Want Change, Here’s 2 Dimes and a Nickel

Keynote Speaker:
Wade Ellis, Jr.
West Valley College
Saratoga, CA

Wade Ellis, Jr. will officially open the AMATYC Annual Conference in Cincinnati with a call to action and speculate about changes that will take place in the way we teach in the next decade. He will point out the importance of standards (personal standards as well as Beyond Crossroads), discuss technology (online and hybrid courses), and consider what we may have learned about teaching adults of all ages.

Wade teaches at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA, where he has taught for the past thirty years. He has also been a visiting professor of mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the United States Military Academy, West Point; and The Ohio State University. Wade holds numerous awards including AMATYC’s Mathematics Excellence Award.

Saturday Awards Breakfast Session:
“Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing” by Sir Randolph Bacon III

Enjoy breakfast on Saturday morning with Colin Adams, the Francis Oakley Third Century Professor of Mathematics at Williams College and author of The Knot Book, an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots, and Why Knot?, a mathematical comic book on knots. He will have you tied in knots with his humor and fun. Having authored a variety of research articles on knot theory and hyperbolic 3-manifolds, Colin is also known for his mathematical lectures in the guise of Mel Slugbate, a sleazy real estate agent. Expect to hear a tale of adventure on the high seas involving great risk to the tale teller and learn how an understanding of the mathematical theory of knots saved his bacon. No particular nautical or mathematical background is assumed.

An Engineer’s Flight from Aircraft Engines to Educational Standards

William G. Steenken will draw upon his experience as a member of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Research Council and as a member of AMATYC and the Beyond Crossroads writing team to share insights and parallels that support and provide a fitting introduction to the rollout of the Beyond Crossroads document.

Bill recently retired as a Consulting Engineer in Engine Operability from General Electric Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his career, he has published over thirty-four papers and reports. An elected member of the school boards in Ohio for over 22 years, Steenken is the past president of the National Alliance of State Science and Mathematics Coalitions, and past chair of the Ohio Mathematics and Science Coalition.

The talk will be interspersed with analogies and amusing anecdotes. So please join us for a real world discussion on issues of learning and working in context.

Larry Gilligan will relate some of the teaching strategies that worked and the many that did not work over his career of teaching collegiate mathematics. He will provide examples from algebra, probability, calculus, and statistics. He will also lament the misuses and applaud the good uses of technology.

A professor of mathematics at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Applied Sciences, Larry is the type of teacher who changes his suits—whether in cards or clothing—in order to better suit students. And his creative teaching methods—using stories, jokes, bets, a “crooked” deck of cards, or a bodytwisting change of wardrobe—all add up to one thing: better mathematics education for students. Larry’s performance is sure to please and inform!