Who’s in charge here?
“In mathematics, organizing talent plays a most subordinate role.”
The current director of the Stanford Math Circle is Laurens Gunnarsen.
Although by training a mathematical physicist (his Ph.D., from the University of Chicago, is in general relativity theory) Laurens has worked for more than ten years now as a private mentor to a select handful of mathematically talented children.
Most of Laurens’ students have been enrolled in the Young Scholars Program of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, for whom he has designed and led many of its most popular online colloquia in mathematics. He has extensive experience with the special challenges that confront profoundly gifted children and their families.
A fluent speaker of Japanese and a frequent visitor to Japan, Laurens is keenly interested in Japanese elementary mathematics pedagogy, and considers its greatest masters the best teachers he has ever seen, in any subject, at any level. He particularly reveres Kouzou Tsubota, whose nationally acclaimed lesson designs artfully insinuate mathematical ideas of extraordinary depth and subtlety into novel activities that even very small children find deeply engaging.
Laurens enjoys becoming better acquainted with the children and families who attend the Stanford Math Circle, and always looks forward eagerly to hearing their suggestions for improving the Circle and the services it offers. He hopes that you will write to him at
laurens@stanfordpathcircle.org
where the "p" in the midst of things there must, alas, be replaced by an "m" before you hit the "Send" button. Please don’t hesitate to contact him with any questions or comments you may have — he’d love to hear from you.