Richard Rusczyk

Richard Rusczyk (/ˈrʌsɪk/; Polish: [ˈrustʂɨk]; born September 21, 1971) is the founder and chief executive officer of Art of Problem Solving Inc. (as well as the website, which serves as a mathematics forum and place to hold online classes) and a co-author of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks. Rusczyk was a national Mathcounts participant in 1985, and he won the USA Math Olympiad (USAMO) in 1989. He is one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and the director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). He also founded the San Diego Math Circle.

Richard Rusczyk
Born (1971-09-21) September 21, 1971
Idaho Falls, Idaho, U.S.
Alma materPrinceton University
Known forArt of Problem Solving
SpouseVanessa Rusczyk
AwardsWorld Federation of National Mathematics Competitions Paul Erdös Award (2014)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsArt of Problem Solving

Early life

Richard Rusczyk was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho in 1971. He signed up for the MathCounts program when he was in middle school. As a high schooler, Rusczyk was a part of his high school math team and took part in the American Mathematics Competitions.[1] Rusczyk would later go on to attend Princeton University, which he graduated from in 1993.[2]

Art of Problem Solving

In 1994, Rusczyk and Sandor Lehoczky wrote the Art of Problem Solving books, designed to prepare students for mathematical competitions by teaching them concepts and problem-solving methods rarely taught in school. These books lent their name to the company he founded in 2003.

After working for four years as a bond trader for D. E. Shaw & Co., Rusczyk created the Art of Problem Solving website, which provides resources for middle and high school students to develop their mathematics and problem-solving abilities. These include real-time competitions to solve math problems and online tools to learn how to solve problems with increasing difficulty as well as math forums. As of May 26, 2021, there have been 709,491 students, 1,322,594 topics, and a total of 15,182,054 posts on the site. Rusczyk has also published the Art of Problem Solving series of books aimed at a similar audience. The site also provides fee-based online mathematics classes, which range from Prealgebra to Group Theory and Calculus. Additionally, Art of Problem Solving offers Python programming classes and Olympiad level classes in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science. They are collectively named WOOT.

Rusczyk founded and serves on the board of the nonprofit Art of Problem Solving Initiative, which manages the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS) and finances numerous local math initiatives around the United States. In 2012, Rusczyk won the Mathcounts distinguished alumnus award. In 2014, Rusczyk won the Paul Erdős Award from the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions.[3] Art of Problem Solving also has a vast community of over 500,000 math, computer science, and physics enthusiasts.

In 2020, Mathcounts was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its stead, Art of Problem Solving hosted the online Mathcounts Week.[4] Art of Problem Solving also hosted the second round of the American Invitational Mathematics Examination as the American Online Invitational Mathematics Examination.[5] Art of Problem Solving also hosted the American Mathematics Competitions in 2021 and 2022.

Website

The Art of Problem Solving website hosts online math courses.[6] Sets of problems are included which is for homework. The website also hosts a large number of forums, where users can post math problems and play math & strategy games. The Art of Problem Solving wiki contains numerous formulas and additional information. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the website additionally began hosting several math and science competitions. These include the American Mathematics Competitions, American Invitational Mathematics Examination, United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, the Putnam Competition, F=ma examination, USA Biolympiad, and Mathcounts.

Textbooks

Richard Ruscyzk has both authored and co-authored several textbooks for students in grades 5–12, including Pre-algebra, Introduction to Algebra, Introduction to Geometry, and many others. During his studies at Princeton University, he also wrote the Art of Problem Solving Volumes 1 and 2 with Sandor Lehoczky.

Academic background

Rusczyk studied chemical engineering at Princeton University and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1993. He previously served on the board for ARML and managed the Western ARML site.

References
  1. Chen, Ingfei (November 12, 2021). "Richard Rusczyk's Worldwide Math Camp". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  2. "The Art of Problem Solving Initiative". April 7, 2023.
  3. "WFNMC Awards". Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  4. "Mathcounts week". Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  5. "American Online Invitational Mathematics Examination". Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  6. "Class Schedule".
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