Titu Andreescu (born August 19, 1956) is an associate professor of mathematics at the

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private res ...

. He is firmly involved in mathematics contests and olympiads, having been the Director of

American Mathematics Competitions The American Mathematics Competitions (AMCs) are the first of a series of competitions in secondary school mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that ...

(as appointed by the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

), Director of the

Mathematical Olympiad Program The Mathematical Olympiad Program (abbreviated MOP; formerly called the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program, abbreviated MOSP) is an intensive summer program sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. The main purpose of MOP, held sinc ...

, Head Coach of the United States

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the wor ...

Team, and Chairman of the

United States of America Mathematical Olympiad The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) is a highly selective high school mathematics competition held annually in the United States. Since its debut in 1972, it has served as the final round of the American Mathematics Compe ...

. He has also authored a large number of books on the topic of problem solving and olympiad-style mathematics.

Biography

Andreescu was born in the

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n city of

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

in 1956. From an early age, an interest in higher-level mathematics was encouraged by his father and by his uncle Andrew, who was a retired university professor. As a high school student, he excelled in mathematics, and in 1973, 1974, and 1975 won the Romanian national problem solving contests organized by the journal Gazeta Matematică. After graduating with a B.S. degree from the University of Timișoara, Andreescu was appointed a professor of mathematics at the Constantin Diaconovici Loga school of Mathematics and Physics. Between the years 1981–1989 he also worked as the editor-in-chief of the Periodical ''Revista matematică din Timișoara''. In 1990, as the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

began to collapse, Andreescu emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he first taught at the

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students. Enrollment is generally offered to in ...

. He earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree from the University of Timișoara in 2003.

Mathematics coaching and contests

During the 1980s, Andreescu served as a coach for the Romanian

(IMO) team and in 1983 was presented with the national award of "Distinguished Professor". In 1984 he was appointed as "Counselor of the Romanian Ministry of Education". After emigrating to the United States, Andreescu became involved in coaching the American IMO team. His most notable success came in 1994 when the American team obtained a perfect score at the Hong Kong International Mathematical Olympiad, the first time that any team had achieved this. In recognition of this achievement, he was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the

for "outstanding service" as coach of the United States Mathematical Olympiad Program.

AwesomeMath Program

In 2006, Andreescu established a math camp for bright and motivated middle and high school mathematicians. The first AwesomeMath summer program was very effective, with noted professors serving as instructors, and mentors and assistants who had performed well at Olympiads. The program has now been expanded to include locations at the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

(formerly at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

) and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, as well as the original location at the

. The program continues throughout the year as the related AwesomeMath Year-round program, or AMY.

Metroplex Math Circle

In 2006, Andreescu founded a mathematical circle hosted by the

. This circle continues to thrive under his leadership, serving the needs of talented middle and high school students in north Texas. Speakers come from around the world and the local community of professors and their most skilled graduate students. Notable participants in the Metroplex Math Circle include Amy Chyao, Michael Ma, and Niranjan Balachandar.

Math Rocks! Program

In 2008, the Plano Independent School District in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

launched a Math Rocks! program, a program for kids with very high-level math skills. For two years, it was piloted successfully. Then, in 2010, PISD made a decision to open Math Rocks! to all Plano schools, not just those on the west side. Since then, Math Rocks! is at many PISD schools, such as Rice, Murphy, Schimelpfenig, Schell, Otto, Christie, and McCall. Andreescu helps to direct the program. Subjects of Math Rocks! include simple sums, nice numbers, factorials, math and chess, divisors of numbers, tangrams, magic squares, cryptarithmetic, and digits of numbers. Plano Independent School District has gotten special permission from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) for students in Math Rocks! to participate in the

(AMC.) These high level math tests include the AMC 8 (8th grade material), AMC 10 (10th grade material), the AMC 12 (12th grade material), and AIME. Students enrolled in Math Rocks! taking the AMC tests include third graders all the way to tenth graders.

References

* Titu Andreescu, ''Mathematical Olympiad Challenges'' (2000)
Profile
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreescu, Titu 1956 births Living people Scientists from Timișoara West University of Timișoara alumni 20th-century Romanian mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians Romanian emigrants to the United States University of Texas at Dallas faculty 20th-century Romanian educators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American educators 21st-century American mathematicians