Samuel Kendrick Vandervelde (born 12 February 1971) is a mathematician who, along with Sandor Lehoczky and Richard Rusczyk, is most notable for creating the

Mandelbrot Competition Named in honor of Benoit Mandelbrot, the Mandelbrot Competition was a mathematics competition founded by Sam Vandervelde, Richard Rusczyk and Sandor Lehoczky that operated from 1990 to 2019. It allowed high school students to compete individuall ...

, and being listed first under "Thanks" in the mathematical

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

'' The Art of Problem Solving''.

Contributions to mathematics

Vandervelde contributes problems to the USA Math Olympiad. He was a member of the 1989 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. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except ...

team. He was a grader at the Mathematical Olympiad Program, an intensive summer camp that prepares top high school students for the International Math Olympiad. Vandervelde founded the Stanford

Math Circle A math circle is a learning space where participants engage in the depths and intricacies of mathematical thinking, propagate the culture of doing mathematics, and create knowledge. To reach these goals, participants partake in problem-solving, mat ...

. He was on the math faculty at

St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was found ...

from 2007 to 2015, and is currently the Head of School and math teacher at

Proof School Proof School is a secondary school in San Francisco that offers a mathematics-focused liberal arts education. Currently, 118 students in grades 6–12 are enrolled in Proof School for the academic year (2022-2023). The school was co-founded by Den ...

, a private day school in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for kids who love math. He is also a regular instructor at and board member of

MathPath MathPath is a mathematics enrichment summer program for students ages 11–14 (middle school age in the US). It is four weeks long, and moves to a different location each year. MathPath is visited by mathematicians such as John H. Conway and Fr ...

, and has published two books, ''Bridge to Higher Mathematics'' and ''Circle in a Box''. His educational work has been recognized by the Mathematical Association of America's

Edyth May Sliffe Award {{no refs, date=March 2017 The Edyth May Sliffe Award is given annually to (roughly) 20 teachers in the United States by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The awards are funded by a bequest from a retired high school mathematics teac ...

for high school teaching (2000) and the Henry L. Alder Award for collegiate teaching (2011).

Interests

His other interests include playing soccer, spending time with his two sons, and cooking. He attended Amherst County High School. He received his undergraduate degree from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

and doctoral degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in June 2004. He currently resides in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was ...

. He is married to Eunice Cheung.

References

External links

MandelbrotArt of Problem Solving
1971 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians {{US-mathematician-stub

Contributions to mathematics

Interests

See also

References

External links