Our Team

Art of Problem Solving was founded by Richard Rusczyk in 2003 to create interactive educational opportunities for avid math students. Richard is the author or a co-author of 7 AoPS textbooks and a past 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 received the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions Paul Erdös Award in 2014. He graduated from Princeton University in 1993, 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.

In 2014, Glen founded a learning center in Morrisville, North Carolina, that two years later became the first AoPS Academy campus. Glen served as the National Director of AoPS Academy until his retirement in 2019. He has experience as a college math professor, statistician, and expert SAS programmer. He has been a professional math tutor for many years, and specializes in training academically-advanced and high-performing math students. Glen is a graduate of Duke University and holds a graduate degree in statistics from Boston University.

Katrina holds a master's degree in education and decades of experience working with teachers, students, parents, superintendents, and principals in public and private school settings. She started as a classroom teacher, then created her own business providing classroom management training to schools and districts all over the United States. She was attracted to AoPS because of its mission to discover, inspire, and train the great problem solvers of the next generation. When offered the opportunity to help launch AoPS Academy Santa Clara in 2019, and AoPS Academy Fremont in 2022, she could not resist, and has been with the company ever since. She loves AoPS students because of their dedication and enthusiasm for learning! She has a goofy sense of humor and tries to make learning fun, while still maintaining the very highest academic and behavioral standards for everyone on the AoPS Academy Fremont campus.

Sonia has a B.A. and M.A. in English literature as well as an A.A. in behavioral sciences. She has an extensive background in education that includes teaching composition and literature to college freshmen, working as an academic advisor, and consulting with educational start-ups. Her master’s thesis "The Voices of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishad in T.S Eliot's The Waste Land” is published in The International Journal of Language and Literature. She found AoPS in 2020 and was very impressed with the curriculum. Moreover, she is inspired by the families at AoPS, especially by their love for education. She enjoys helping students make contemporary connections between what they learn in the classroom and how that will serve them in the real world. Sonia's teaching style is collaborative. She believes that the most effective way to learn is through discourse, therefore she creates a classroom culture that promotes participation and engaging dialogue.

Rubie has a passion for STEM education and has a BS in applied mathematics from UCLA. During her time as a Bruin, Rubie held the role of Head Learning Assistant for high-level math courses, fostering a growth mindset in students to ultimately encourage them to overcome math-related challenges. AoPS' mission of creating a supportive academic environment for students to thrive in aligns closely with her professional interests, as she is committed to making math accessible, engaging, and enjoyable for students of all levels. The aspect of working with students that Rubie loves the most is the expansion of her problem solving horizons - AoPS' innovative students teach her more diverse ways of thinking every day! In the classroom, she exhibits a balanced approach to pedagogy, fostering a relaxed and collaborative atmosphere while maintaining clear expectations.

Johne' earned her bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of California, Riverside. She has worked on many school campuses where she held an administrative position. Johne' has always enjoyed working with children and being a part of programs like AoPS that helped better the community. She loves being around the bright students and watching them reach their full potential.

Brittany has earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in media production and multimedia journalism at CSU East Bay in Hayward. She has excelled during her academic career there, such as making the Dean’s List. What drew Brittany to AoPS was the familiarity with her previous experience working at her library college campus. Lending a hand to others in need is what she enjoys doing, especially, in an educational environment with teachers and students where she can assist and watch them succeed.

Adriana is a current student at San Jose State University where she is majoring in accounting information systems and will officially be graduating Spring 2025. She became a supplemental instructor at her university where she was inspired to one day become a K-12 teacher after teaching students financial accounting. The educational environment at AoPS is what drew Adriana in. AoPS Academy offers a safe learning environment and fosters educational growth for all students and Adriana loves contributing in anyway she can.

Macon is an undergraduate student at San Jose State university, majoring in electrical engineering. What drew him to AoPS is the educational environment. Macon has family that works in schools, so children's education is the type of environment he has always wanted to experience. Although he doesn't directly work with the students on an education level, Macon loves love being able to show students and families around our program and what AoPS has to offer!

Vy is currently a student at San Jose State University and will be officially graduating Fall 2024. She has previously worked as a customer support contractor at a biotech company. She was drawn to AoPS Academy because it provides a safe learning space for students that is engaging for all. She loves working with students because it is fun.

Riya is a high school Junior at Notre Dame San Jose. She attended AoPS classes in middle school and her first few high school years. She loves to help students understand foundational concepts.

Sreenidhi, a student at James Logan High School, is passionate about several STEM and humanities fields, having won multiple awards in science and essay competitions. As a former AoPS student, she was drawn by its rigorous yet rewarding curriculum. With her extensive experience as a tutor and mentor in multiple subjects at school and through her non-profit organization, she has worked with students of all ages. She enjoys encouraging students to tackle challenging prompts and helping them develop their skills.

Ishaan is currently pursuing a bachelor's in mechanical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette. What drew him to AoPS was the opportunity to help teach students mathematics while gaining experience as a TA. What he loves most about working with students is the rewarding feeling of helping them develop and master their skills. Ishaan's teaching style focuses on demonstrating how to solve problems while involving the students in figuring out the steps to solving them.

Vivian is a junior at Washington High School. She was drawn to AoPS because she enjoys tutoring and the complexity of the problems. Her favorite part of working with students is gradually seeing them understand difficult concepts.

Viraaj is currently a student at Irvington High School. Previously, he has volunteered to tutor math students at high school and middle school. He was drawn to AoPS after buying one of their textbooks to help study for his math class in 9th grade. Viraaj loves seeing enthusiastic students have fun solving challenging problems and seeing them light up when they find clever solutions.

Sierra has a bachelor's in psychology with an emphasis on social and behavioral sciences. She has taught for the last two years with AoPS and the last three years in a public charter school working with grades 3 and 4. Sierra appreciates that AoPS has such an engaging and entertaining style, targeting students' interest in learning and exciting them to learn. She loves working with students, seeing them learn and learning from them. AoPS students, especially, are filled with energy and enthusiasm. Her teaching style is silly, she gets down to students' level of understanding but teaches using things they love such as Roblox, Minecraft or meme references. At the same time, she has firm expectations so that students have a safe and structured learning environment.

Catharine holds a PhD in applied mathematics from UC Berkeley. She is an experienced math teacher of all levels from elementary to college mathematics. She first learned about AoPS while homeschooling her own two children and was drawn to the engaging and challenging curriculum. To put it simply: she loves working with students who are excited about math! Her teaching style centers students and their ideas. Her goal is to foster their creativity, persistence, and problem solving abilities.

Dnyati has a bachelor's degree in electronic and telecommunications engineering from a renowned university from India. From her high-school and engineering days, she has helped many young students grasp and understand mathematical concepts. Over the last few years, while helping her children understand and finish their homework, her interest in math has grown. Since then, she has developed a systematic approach in simplifying complex mathematical concepts with easy-to-understand chunks to inspire student curiosity and cement comprehension. Dnyati was impressed with the creativity offered in AoPS curriculum and engagement of students with topics. She loves working with students for their passion for math and the environment they cultivate. She describes her teaching style as interaction with students through questions, videos, and games. She likes to develop a warm bond with each and every student.

Richard has a Master of Science degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. He also worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years. As a father of two, he started teaching math to his own children and later to middle and high school students in the tri-valley area. Richard likes AoPS because of its in-depth course materials and regular progress assessments through homework and tests. He enjoys working with students because witnessing their growth and progress over time is the most fulfilling aspect of his role as an educator. Richard believes in breaking down complex concepts into manageable parts, using real-life examples to make math more accessible and relatable. Richard now works as a math tutor at Dublin High School's Academic Resource Center.

Kirk earned a bachelor’s degree in film and television from NYU and taught English in Asia for many years. He was drawn to AoPS because of its well-planned curriculum. Even though he is the teacher, Kirk feels he learns a lot from his students, especially about the importance patience and understanding. Kirk describes his teaching style as fun and engaging, with a focus on learning and growth.

Maya earned her bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from California State University, Eastbay. Since graduating, she has had 3 years experience educating and working closely with students. She was drawn to AoPS for our student-led approach to learning, and her love and passion for both English and the written word are what drive her to do the work she does. What Maya loves the most about teaching students is helping them grow, progress, and learn while learning something new herself along the way. She describes her teaching style as engaging, interactive, and fun. As a teacher, Maya believes that while guidance is important, it is also necessary to provide students with the tools and tricks they need to become self-sufficient learners.

Amy received her MFA in creative writing from Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga. She writes fiction, and her work has been featured in literary journals. She enjoys teaching the AoPS language arts curriculum that consists of reading lists and unit projects that easily engage students. Most of all, she loves being a part of the AoPS community! The most rewarding part of working with students is facilitating learning and witnessing how their writing styles develop through the academic year. In the classroom, Amy likes to encourage discussion and collaboration, to help students learn from and connect with their peers. She’s excited to bring her passion for creative writing to AoPS!

SJ has a bachelor's in engineering and a master's in business administration. SJ was drawn towards AoPS when she was exploring new ways of teaching maths. She believes that AoPS provides an engaging and interactive curriculum that makes learning stick and builds the confidence in kids to challenge themselves. SJ creates a supportive classroom environment where every student feels valued and capable to succeed.

Krista has been an educator for over 17 years and has worked with students from kindergarten through college. In addition to being an instructor at AoPS, she currently teaches English and History full-time at Walters Middle School in Fremont. She was really impressed by the rigor and creativity offered in AoPS curriculum and the core educational approach to leading students to solve their own problems and forge their own paths, under the guidance of instructors. What she loves most about working with students is seeing those "lightbulb moments" in students when they achieve a goal or have mastered a concept. Krista describes her teaching style as firm but fair and warm. She prides herself on the ability to build strong relationships with students and develop a rapport with every student.

Oleg has a PhD in physics from the University of Utah. He works in the daytime as a data specialist for the State of California querying pharmacy data. He reads math books by Richard Rusczyk and fancied himself as able to teach that material in class. He learns from students as much as they learn from AoPS books. His teaching style is adaptive. He adapts to how much students can do by themselves.

Bhavana always had math as her favorite subject during her school years. She enjoys solving challenging math problems and considers this to be a stress buster. Sudoku is her favorite puzzle game. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and Technology from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India. She has been teaching math to kids in K-12 for the past many years both in-person and online. Other than work, she enjoys playing outdoor games with her two boys, going on walks, and cooking delicious food.

Traptilisa loves teaching mathematics and physics at a wide spectrum of levels, ranging from elementary school through college. Currently, she is working as a physics instructor at Foothill College, Los Altos, California. She earned her master's degree in physics from San Jose State University, California. She has been teaching at AoPS academy since 2020. She likes to teach at AoPS as it provides an amazing platform to share her knowledge and love for math and science to all students of different communities across the Bay Area. She loves working with students as she can see them learn, grow, and become more confident in school. Her teaching style is characterized by the creation of engaging learning environments that promote critical thinking and empower students to reach their academic potential.

Annie graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in pure mathematics and nutritional science, along with a single-subject math teaching credential. She is currently a high school math teacher. She loves how AoPS challenges students and helps them explore their math potential. She enjoys seeing and learning innovative perspectives from students to solve math problems. She believes that students learn the most through expressing their mathematical thoughts, and her role in the class is not only to serve as an instructor but also as a facilitator. In her class, she hopes to facilitate active class discussions to help students polish their critical thinking and skills in presenting and communicating their mathematical thoughts.

Felicia earned her associate's degree in math from Ohlone College and bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from UC Berkeley, along with a minor in bioengineering. She tutored math, biology, and chemistry at Ohlone College and worked as an undergraduate student instructor at UC Berkeley. She was intruigued by AoPS' mission to teach students to not just know how to solve specific types of problems, but instead to be able to analyze and solve any type of challenging problem. She loves to see students get excited about being able to solve difficult problems. Felicia's classes are energetic, interactive, and often a touch chaotic.

Kunal earned his Bachelor’s of Technology in computer science from IIT Delhi and has an MBA in analytical finance & economics from the University of Chicago. In over 25 years of professional experience as a technology consultant, software engineer, structured credit trader and, most recently, as a business leader at tech startups, he has applied mathematical concepts such as time-value, induction, statistics, probability, and Monte Carlo simulations extensively. He has enjoyed math ever since elementary school in India and won several math competitions from grades 5-10. He enjoys engaging with children in and outside the classroom, and has led and taught a middle-school summer camp in Palo Alto focusing on math and cryptography, was a substitute teacher in the Pleasanton school district, enjoys spending time with his two sons, and has coached his son’s team in their baseball, soccer and cricket leagues. The AoPS approach appealed to Kunal as a parent and encouraged him to join as an instructor. The curriculum and tools provided allow him to focus on what he enjoys most - helping students learn and master math skills! He loves seeing his students light up when they understand a difficult-to-grasp math concept. He tries to achieve this by fostering participation and idea generation in the class, as well as getting the students to collaborate with each other, as he believes students understand best from their peers and concepts get solidified when they have to explain them to others.

Sukhvinder earned a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science from UP Tech University in India. She then worked as a software engineer for seven years before delving into the teaching field and becoming an instructor for the Fremont AoPS campus. Sukhvinder was drawn to AoPS due to her passion for teaching, and the curriculum AoPS has to offer. The one thing that Sukhvinder loves most about working with students is that she can inspire them and always challenge them to do their best. Her teaching style is interactive, fun, and nurturing. She always makes sure to engage the students and makes sure that students can understand the concepts.

Deepa holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, She has taught junior high math and social studies at a private school. She was drawn to AoPS due to its reputation, popularity and curricula. She likes that students at AoPS are very enthusiastic about learning and enjoys teaching in an interactive environment while using our wonderful curriculum. Her teaching style is a blended style where she acts as a facilitator in her students' learning, emphasizing self-learning and critical thinking skills.

Sri earned her master’s degree in computer science, graduating from Loyola University Chicago. Her journey into teaching began with her own children and expanded into middle and high school classrooms in Florida, where she taught mathematics to students with diverse learning needs. Sri is a strong advocate of differentiated learning, meticulously tailoring teaching methods to meet the unique needs of each student. Embracing a student-centered approach, she acts as a facilitator, guiding students through their educational journeys and encouraging active participation in their learning process. By fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills, Sri empowers students to reach their full potential and cultivates a lifelong love for learning. She believes the mission of AoPS is not only to learn to solve mathematical problems but also to analyze and apply knowledge, reflecting the advanced cognitive skills outlined in Bloom's taxonomy. Her goal is to create an engaging and supportive learning environment where every student can thrive.

Jennifer holds an education specialist degree along with an MS in curriculum and instruction as well as a BS in counseling psychology. She is currently working towards her PhD in educational psychology. She was drawn to AoPS because of the engaging and well-structured curriculum design in its language arts program that not only guides students to think autonomously, but provides higher order thinking skills in the process. She enjoys reading students work as it allows her to get a glimpse of their uniqueness and creativity and allows her to guide them to become strong and confident writers. Her teaching style is foundational in constructivism that actively incorporates a student's knowledge, learning, and engagement that supports motivation in a learning environment. One of the best responses in her classes is seeing several hands raised and student responses that begin with "I believe...", knowing that the answers that follow stem from what they have acquired in their learning.

John has a master's degree and is currently finishing his PhD in mathematics at UC Santa Cruz, where he is also currently and has been teaching various courses in mathematics. Being also a researcher, he is interested in solving challenging problems and finding different creative ways to attack a problem, which are two skills that students experience in AoPS classes. He enjoys having students share their own problem-solving strategies, as it also adds to his arsenal of strategies. But what he loves the most is when he sees students' faces lighting up when they realize the crucial step in solving a tough problem. As an instructor, John likes to use geometric and visual reasoning to motivate and explain concepts, and also analogies, humor, and technology to keep his classes engaging.

Luis has taught Statistics, Mathematics, and Physics for over fifteen years at universities (Ireland, Ecuador, and Venezuela) and high schools (Venezuela), and he is currently teaching Physics at the Shalem School in Palo Alto, California. He has also worked in many projects to solve real problems through deep learning, AI, machine learning, and high performance computing for companies and institutes. Recently, he moved to the US and received his green card for his extraordinary abilities (EB1 US visa) to model real phenomenon. He has a B.Sc in Education with a major in mathematics, M.Sc in Mathematics and Computer Science, and a PhD in Engineering based in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science from the University of Carabobo in Venezuela. He really enjoys teaching and loves to see his students grow in their understanding of science. He loves to use the Socratic method, a type of question-asking and question-answering argumentative debate between students and the teacher.

With a Bachelor of Science in computer science, a Master of Arts in teaching mathematics, and over 10 years of teaching experience, Madeline has the background to help her students build their academic and life skills through the problem-solving learned in her classes. Her teaching philosophy centers around making learning meaningful which naturally led her to AoPS. As an educator, She enjoys sharing in the journey her students take to wonder, explore, and discover all things math! Madeline’s teaching style is to be a facilitator of discussions where students are challenged to build on what they know, make connections and discover new methods or perspectives in problem solving.

Joy holds a BA in mathematics from Wheaton College, and an MS in applied mathematics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Early in her career, Joy was an actuary (a mathematical predictor). She later became an avid PTA volunteer, which led to becoming an elementary school music teacher. She finds the curriculum at AoPS to be world class; it uses stories, puzzles, and games to teach students that there are many approaches to solving problems. She loves working with AoPS students, who are highly engaged in learning and excited to come to class. Joy has great respect for each student and believes that listening to their ideas and teaching them to clearly articulate their thoughts will lead to their own love of mathematics. Employing a student-centered, facilitator teaching style, Joy actively listens, while training students to articulate their approach to solving problems. Her aim is to ignite within each student a passion for learning and a love of mathematics.

Jaya earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering from BITS Pilani, India and worked as a software engineer. After moving to the Bay Area, Jaya started volunteering at the Girls Who Code club at a local middle school. She was impressed by the AoPS curriculum and the student-driven teaching methodology, and has been teaching math at AoPS Santa Clara since it opened in 2019 and continues to teach at several Bay Area campuses. She believes in building strong foundations to equip her students to become creative problem solvers and lifelong learners. Jaya adopts a facilitator style of teaching by encouraging students to ask questions and try different approaches to problem solving. Students in her classroom learn by making mistakes, leading to a deeper understanding of the material.