some background information on
Dr. Lawrence(Larry) Lesser

updated Nov. 2, 2009

EDUCATION
precollegiate education after 1st grade was in Houston ISD public schools, including Bellaire HS
B.A. (1986) in Mathematics / Mathematical Sciences from Rice University
M.S. (1989) in Statistics from the University of Texas at Austin
Also did all UT coursework for a statistics PhD and have credit for Society of Actuaries' Exams 100,110,120 (i.e., Course 1, plus 35 prof. dev. units)
Ph.D. (1994) in Mathematics Education from the University of Texas at Austin

RESEARCH / SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY

Click HERE for a list of selected papers (many with direct links),

click HERE for some abstracts of papers, or click HERE for a 2-page overall vita.

My research program is situated in mathematics education and includes a specialized focus on statistics education, an area still rapidly growing in size and importance with the ever increasing need for all citizens to gain statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking in our information age.  Because mathematics and statistics have been shown to be frequently associated with anxiety, difficulty, and disinterest among secondary and postsecondary students, and because of the extra responsibility of making sure that the preservice and inservice teachers we teach will not reinforce negative attitudes, the driving interest behind my research has been to develop and assess ways to make mathematics/statistics more intuitive, interesting and meaningful to students.  I’ve had papers accepted in a variety of selective and highly-selective juried statistics/mathematics education research publications (e.g., Statistics Education Research Journal, Journal of Statistics Education, Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership, Adults Learning Mathematics International Journal, Journal of Mathematics and Culture, Model Assisted Statistics and Applications, and the NCTM Yearbook) as well as in a variety of juried publications designed to reach a larger audience that includes non-researcher educators (e.g., Teaching Statistics, Mathematics Teacher, ON-Math: Online Journal of School Mathematics, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Statistics Teacher Network, Spreadsheet User, Technological Horizons in Education Journal).  In 2007, I was nominated for the Mathematical Association of America’s bi-annual Annie and John Selden Prize for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education.

 

My scholarship about making mathematics/statistics more intuitive includes my studies of the learning of specific topics such as analysis of variance (ANOVA), disjunctive event probability (e.g., how many people it takes to have at least a 50% chance of at least 2 people in the room being born on the same day of the year), weighted averages (e.g., the average class size paradox), and Simpson’s Paradox (i.e., a comparison can be reversed upon aggregation).  Understanding Simpson’s Paradox is listed by the National Council on Education and the Disciplines (2001) as an essential for citizenship, and plays a big role in understanding observed association between variables.  My NCTM Yearbook chapter on representations of Simpson’s Paradox was listed (www.statlit.org/StatLit2006.htm) as the second-most downloaded article in 2006 out of the hundreds on a premier statistics literacy website.  Examining the role of multiple representations supports not only the newest standard of NCTM (2000) but also recommendations for teaching English language learners.

 

I’m also intrigued by the relationship between what students find intuitive and what they find interesting.  My dissertation developed a theoretical model on the selection and role of introductory statistics scenarios that motivate and engage the intuition and serve as rich vehicles for multiple representations/perspectives, and some of my subsequent publications (see below) further explored, extended or applied this.  I conducted empirical survey research in which college students starting an introductory statistics course showed highly significant positive correlation between interest in and surprise with respect to true statistical statements in lay language.  This result suggests that counterintuitive scenarios such as Simpson’s Paradox may motivate more than they demoralize.  The importance of this to curriculum and instruction is reflected by this Teaching Statistics paper getting selected twice for (international) republication.  Also, I have discussed related framework issues in Journal of Statistics Education, and these ideas also relate to my involvement in a recent NSF CCLI grant in engineering education.

 

From 2006-2009, one of my biggest research projects was a case study of pre-service teachers to explore issues English language learners may encounter in learning statistics.  This research, conducted with Illinois State University’s Matthew Winsor, is published in the November 2009 issue of a top-tier research journal (Statistics Education Research Journal) and quantitative followup work is now in progress or under review. In addition to conducting various empirical quantitative/qualitative studies, I also research ways to make mathematics/statistics more meaningful to students (and connected to the educational environment), using the depth and breadth of my background to find or make bridges between the literatures of mathematics, statistics, mathematics education, statistics education, and a variety of other realms (e.g., lotteries, music, ethics, social justice, culture/ethnomathematics).  These papers, especially in subareas where there is little prior work, are often integrative syntheses or critical reviews of a theoretical, foundational, developmental, philosophical or historical/cultural nature. I have enjoyed getting to publish the first and/or most definitive/comprehensive articles (see list of papers) on several particular intersections of topics, including:  statistics education and English language learners, multiple representations and Simpson’s Paradox, statistics education and philosophical ethics, statistics education and social justice, Jewish culture and (ethno)mathematics, mathematics/statistics and song, probability/statistics and magic, and statistics education and fun.  

 

My scholarship on engagement and my ability to write curriculum informed by the latest education research recommendations has led to major textbook writing projects.  I co-authored the 1998 McGraw-Hill text ACT in Algebra: Applications, Concepts and Technology in Learning Algebra, which lets applications (not definitions) launch the mathematics, incorporates modeling and technology appropriately, emphasizes conceptual understanding as well as computational skill, and has realistic acknowledgement of the role of factoring-dependent methods.  In 2007, I was invited to succeed former ASA president (and Founder’s Award winner) David S. Moore on the distinguished Freeman/COMAP author team to prepare the thoroughly-revised 8th edition of the first (and still the best!) applied math-for-liberal-arts textbook For All Practical Purposes and I was given sole responsibility for its four statistics chapters (one of which was chosen to be featured at: http://portals.bfwpub.com/fapp8e.php).

 

Much of my research has been connected to externally funded grants.  I am a PI of an NSF CCLI grant (with Dennis Pearl) currently under review. My past research in the area of standards and alignment led to my being PI of a 2008 grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to co-chair a Statewide Discipline-Based Vertical Team conducting gap analysis between the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and the Texas College Readiness Standards.  I gave an invited featured solo presentation of the findings at the 2008 Charles A. Dana Center statewide Annual Mathematics and Science Higher Education Conference. Also, I shared equally the writing and PI roles with M. Tchoshanov on a six-figure “Improving Student Achievement in Mathematics through Professional Development Partnerships Grant” funded by the Texas Education Agency for 2005-2007:  Evidence-based Middle-school Mathematics Achievement Program,” and our work yielded my invited half-plenary presentation at the 2006 Charles A. Dana Center’s Annual Mathematics and Science Higher Education Conference and a juried paper in Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership. Since 2006, I have served as co-director/co-PI of over a quarter-million dollars’ worth of Teacher Quality grants (2 with M. Tchoshanov and 1 with O. Kosheleva). Finally, I have done key subaward work as part of other people’s grants, including an NSF CCLI Phase 2 grant, a Carnegie Foundation Teachers for a New Era grant, Department of Education (Project ACE and Project LEAP-UP) grants, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board grant SABE MAS, and the National Science Foundation-funded El Paso (with the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence) Mathematics Science Partnership, including a multi-year research/outreach/professional development partnership with UTEP colleagues at an EPISD school which has achieved recognitions such as Gold Performance Acknowledgement (in Dec. 2005) for being in the top quartile in improvement on math TAKS passing rate.  

Click HERE for a near-complete list of papers (many with direct links), click HERE for some abstracts of papers, or click HERE for a 2-page overall vita.

CITATIONS by others of my work have appeared in several dissertations, books (e.g., the 2008 MAA book Calculation vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy and its Implications for Teacher Education, the 2008 Springer Verlag book Developing Students' Statistical Reasoning: Connecting Research and Teaching Practice, and the 2009 Wiley-Blackwell book  A Guide to Teaching Statistics: Innovations and Best Practices), major websites (e.g., www.statlit.org), and in over two dozen periodicals, including:  Statistics Education Research Journal, Journal of Statistics Education, Model Assisted Statistics and Applications, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Primus, Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, Computers in the Schools, International Journal of Computer Algebra in Mathematics Education, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, Teaching Statistics, Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Journal of Mathematics and Culture, The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Mathematics Teacher, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Radical Statistics, Syllabus, Choice, Transportation Research Record, Proceedings of the Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education and Proceedings of the World Congress of the International Fuzzy Systems Association.

My 50+ presentations at national/international conferences include the International Conference on Teaching Statistics, the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Mathematical Association of America (winter & summer meetings), North American chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Association for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, Joint Statistical Meetings (American Statistical Association), International Conference on Education, Labor & Emancipation, Conference on Math Education and Social Justice, Lineae Terrarum: International Borders Conference, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, Working Class/Poverty Class Academics Conference, the Sun Conference on Teaching and Learning, the Advanced Placement Conference, Research Council on Mathematics Learning, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Presession.   The most exotic place I’ve presented was probably Marrakesh, Morocco, where my 1994 ICOTS talk was translated in real time over headphones into French (and I’ll be giving an invited paper at 2010 ICOTS in Ljubljana, Slovenia!).  A close second would be when I was the featured guest on the hour-long live call-in show “Math Medley” (broadcast via AM radio and the Internet!) or the ASA and CAUSE webinars I’ve done.  I have given invited featured presentations at national meetings (e.g., the Opening Banquet speaker for Mathematical Association of America’s MathFest 2008, which yielded a standing ovation from its 385 attendees) as well as at numerous regional and local meetings.  I’ve given 35+ presentations (including 9 plenary/keynote talks) at regional/statewide conferences (including Western Statistics Teachers' Conference, Georgia Mathematics Conference, California Mathematics Council Community Colleges South, Regional National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conferences, Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching, Bilingual Educators Emphasizing and Mastering Standards conference, Mathematical Association of America, and Teachers Teaching with Technology, and the Charles A. Dana Center’s Annual Mathematics and Science Higher Education Conference).  I have also given invited talks at schools and universities in over a dozen states and even overseas (the Technion in Haifa, Israel).  During my time at AASU, I also gave several university-wide presentations (e.g., President's Symposium on Teaching and Learning, Robert Ingram Strozier Faculty Lecture Series, Scholarship of Teaching RoundTable, Women's Studies Conference).  Overall, my presentations have spanned many areas/topics, including:  mentoring new teachers, education outreach, mathematics and music/song, mathematics/statistics and philosophy (including ethics), mathematics history, multiculturalism/diversity/gender equity, using the Internet, using mass media, standards-based mathematics and technology, assessment, goals of statistics education, algebraic reasoning in statistics, line of fit, student-collected data, capture/recapture methods, mathematics and science connections, careers in statistics, constructivism, misconceptions, counterintuitive examples, collaborative learning, qualitative research, algebra reform, conceptual understanding of functions, and multiple representations.

My research background has naturally guided my service to the profession, including: service as a founding Editor of Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics (national journal of TODOS: Mathematics for ALL), an Associate Editor of Journal of Statistics Education (an international journal of the American Statistical Association), as an Associate Editor of Journal of Mathematics and Culture (international journal of the North American Study Group on Ethnomathematics), as an Editor of Noticias de TODOS: News from TODOS Mathematics for All, and an Editorial Board member of Texas Mathematics Teacher (Texas-wide refereed journal of Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics). Also, I have done invited refereeing of papers for other journals (e.g., Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Statistics Education Research Journal, Mathematics Teacher, and Teaching Statistics) and conferences (e.g., Psychology of Mathematics Education North American conferences and the International Conference on Teaching Statistics).  I have also served on program and other committees for various national or regional mathematics/statistics/education conferences (e.g., USCOTS, MAA, NCTM, Western Statistics Teachers' Conference, "Transitions in Qualitative Inquiry" seminar series).  I was deeply honored to be recognized as a finalist for the 2001 Gladys M. Thomason Distinguished Service Award by the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics based on “distinguished service in the field of mathematics education at the local, regional, and state levels,” to receive a certificate of appreciation from TODOS President Miriam Leiva for “Exemplary contributions as a leader in TODOS: Mathematics for All 2006-07,” a 2006 plaque from GEPCTM recognizing my “support and promotion of high-quality mathematics teaching and ongoing professional development throughout the preparation and careers of teachers of mathematics,” and a nomination for the Martha H. Salmon Leadership Award for the College Board southwestern region. I served (2005-2009) on the RAB (Research Advisory Board) of CAUSE (Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education), have been mentoring several early-career researchers, served on the Program Committee of USCOTS 2007 (United States Conference on Teaching Statistics), and have been co-coordinating a “Fun” Resources Page and associated bi-annual national contest for CAUSEWeb.  On the state level, I did invited service in 2008 as faculty chair of a Statewide Discipline-Based Vertical Team on college readiness for the THECB and the TEA. At UTEP, my recent service activities include chairing the UTEP Museum Committee (for 3 years), editing the math department’s annual newsletter (MAXIMA), chairing the mathematics education PhD proposal program committee, and chairing a Mathematics Education Search Committee (which succeeded in making a quality hire who joined us!). 

TEACHING & RELATED EXPERIENCE

Through my education, my interest in mathematics was developed by involvement in extracurricular mathematics activities, including UIL Number Sense, Mu Alpha Theta, Atlantic Region Mathematics League (I competed at this national meet as a member of the Texas delegation), and Putnam exams (scoring as high as the 70th percentile nationwide).  I learned there's much mathematics beyond our textbooks and that "recreational mathematics" is not an oxymoron!   I was fortunate to have many excellent professors in college (e.g., Dr. Richard Tapia) who helped prepare me and inspire me to pursue graduate work.  In my own teaching today, I strive similarly to give students high levels of challenge and support, broaden their view of how mathematics/statistics connects to other areas, and give them a view of how mathematics/statistics is done by real people in real life!

In graduate school, I took the usual “pure mathematics” courses in analysis, topology and abstract algebra before taking my first statistics class ever, which fed my passion to use my mathematical background in a more applied way.  I proceeded to earn a masters' degree in statistics, work as a statistical consultant on a test-equating psychometrics project with Carl Morris, teach (and coordinate) statistics for UT business majors, pass some actuary exams, and work for a couple of years as the sole staff statistician for the Texas Legislative Council (I helped research and implement methodology to estimate racial bloc voting for the redistricting project, a real-world experience of using mathematics outside academia that has given my classroom teaching additional authenticity).   The professional tutoring I had done for a private company and various university departments and the non-tenure-track university teaching I was doing [by the time I earned my PhD, I had taught 16 classes -- mathematics and statistics, upper & lower-division -- at St. Edward's University (a Carnegie Master’s comprehensive Univ. II in Austin of 3000 students), Southwestern University (a baccalaureate liberal arts college in Georgetown, TX of 1200), and the University of Texas at Austin (a Carnegie Doct./Research Univ. Extensive  of 50,000)] helped me realize that, while I greatly enjoyed acquiring my solid background in mathematics and statistics content, I had still greater talents, interests and calling in the areas of curriculum and instruction, finding ways to make important content more accessible and interesting.  (an aside:  be open not only to the possibility that your direction may evolve, but also to the idea that what you learn now may be useful later in unexpected ways!)  I then pursued a PhD in Mathematics Education under Ralph Cain with the distinguished committee of Ray Carry, Charles Lamb, Maggie Myers, and Mary Parker, and with valuable encouragement from statistics educator (whose distinctions now include ASA Fellow, ASA Founders Award, USCOTS Lifetime Achievement Award) Joan Garfield as well.  I was the first student in the program specifically to declare a focus (in terms of both dissertation and supporting coursework) in statistics education.  It was (and still is) an exciting time for involvement in the areas of statistics education and mathematics education, which are growing rapidly, along with their overlap, and I’ve been able to be part of a “bridge” by remaining engaged with both fields and their literatures (e.g., I’ve published in ASA journals, NCTM journals, and joint ASA-NCTM journals!).    In 1993, a UT adult education course I created and taught on the psychology and probability underlying the then-months-old Texas Lottery attracted extensive media coverage --  from a story spanning 37 column inches in the August 28 Austin American-Statesman all the way to the lead "Dollars and Sense" segment throughout that weekend's Cable News Network (CNN) Headline News!   (Subsequent stories have often accompanied the times lotteries begin new games or amass particularly big jackpots, including interviews by Houston's KTRH-AM, Atlanta's WGST-AM, Houston’s KFNC-FM, Austin's ABC-affiliate KVUE-TV, and national magazines Real Simple and Bottom Line Retirement.  I subsequently taught that class for the University of Texas at El Paso’s PACE.)  Around this time I also began exploring classroom connections between math and music and this interest would later attract extensive media coverage, including a story in Australia’s biggest newspaper and newstalk radio interviews ranging from El Paso to Jamaica!

 

After my PhD, I began teaching and developing/reforming numerous courses (in statistics & statistics education, mathematics & mathematics education, mathematics history, and research methodology) as an Assistant Professor for the mathematical sciences department of the University of Northern Colorado (a Carnegie Doctoral/Research extensive University of 10,000 students an hour north of Denver).  While at UNC, I worked with middle/secondary in-service teachers, helped coordinate seminars & conferences, and supervised tutors, student teachers, undergraduate research and doctoral dissertations.  As a key member of the Educational Mathematics PhD program, one of my accomplishments was developing doctoral courses such as one in qualitative research methods in mathematics education.  I was a faculty content person in the "NEXT STEP: K-12 and Higher Education Working Differently and Together" grant (funded by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education) to explore creating a seamless K-16 standards-based alignment between high school exit standards and college entrance standards. I also taught and redesigned courses for pre-service and in-service teachers as part of the Rocky Mountain Secondary Teacher Enhancement Initiative in Mathematics and Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Collaborative NSF grants. As a member of the first competitively-selected CCHE-funded Educational Technology Improvement Project team at UNC, I gained experience in developing and implementing standards, performance-based assessments and rubrics (just as most states’ K-12 schools have been required to implement) and was the first at UNC to integrate sustained, standards-based technology and reformed curriculum into the multi-section introductory statistics course.  I was also active in the Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics (e.g., presentations and committee work for state & regional conferences), was Vice-Chair of UNC's Professional Education Council.  At UNC, I also did some administrative-type work such as coordinating multi-section introductory statistics courses, a university-wide tutoring lab, and programmatic assessment reports, and I have done some of this at other institutions as well.

In 1999, I began an Associate Professor position in the Department of Mathematics at Armstrong Atlantic State University (a comprehensive Carnegie Master's University I of 5500 students in the University System of Georgia) to renew and broaden further my mathematics education background, especially into the elementary school curriculum -- not only by teaching courses for pre-service elementary school teachers, but also by spending significant time in some local schools (from suburban to urban, such as Savannah's East Broad Street Elementary School, where I spent over 50 hours), observing and working with several inservice teachers and teaching some lessons myself.  I also worked with in-service teachers as part of an Eisenhower grant and delivered in-service teacher training workshops -- for individual schools as well as for larger educational organizations such as the AASU/Chatham County Public Schools Partnership Board, the Lowcountry Math and Science Hub, and even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum!   Also, I spent two of my five Armstrong years on leave to strengthen my secondary mathematics education experiential base by working as a full-time high school math teacher (and department chair) at Emery HS. Emery’s advisory activities, outdoor learning, field trips, and strong community service component/mission gave me deeper insight into how to support and motivate “the whole person.”   My experience there teaching a range of students (e.g., from the 35th to the 99th percentiles) and courses (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Calculus) has greatly enhanced my subsequent work with pre-service and in-service teachers. 

In 2004, I accepted an Associate Professor position in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso to have more opportunity for research and collaboration – with a critical mass of talented mathematics educators and science educators, statisticians and mathematicians in rich cultural and natural environments.  During my tenure here (yes, I’m tenured), I’ve also enjoyed record opportunities to team teach in classroom and in field-based settings (e.g., an integrated block with COE faculty for UTEP pre-service teachers at Canutillo ES) as well as to co-write papers and grants.   UTEP is a research-intensive doctoral university (the country’s only one with a Mexican-American majority student population) that started in 1914 and now has some 20,000 students and 1,000 faculty.  UTEP is part of the University of Texas System (the nation’s second largest university system), where I began my teaching career in the 80’s!  Another attraction is that I have family and familial education roots in this western tip of Texas, including relatives who attended UTEP and had distinguished teaching service for El Paso Community College, El Paso ISD (while at Zach White Elementary, my great aunt Matilda was a teacher of the year, and later organized the first education scholarship at UTEP for future teachers: the Matilda Amstater Shanblum Future Teacher Scholarship Fund), and a religious dayschool in El Paso.

My interactive, integrated style aims to give students of diverse backgrounds high levels of support and worthwhile challenge, to broaden their view of how real people do (and teach) mathematics that often connects to other areas, and to enhance their quantitative literacy. While my students do not always declare mathematics to be their favorite subject, they universally acknowledge that my enthusiasm and approachability makes the class a “safe environment” and allows them to experience greater enjoyment, interaction, meaning, and learning than they often had in prior mathematics classes.  I appropriately draw from a broad pedagogical repertoire that includes manipulatives, technology (ranging from the Internet to EXCEL to data-collection devices), mass media, multiple representations, writing, traditional and alternative assessment, standards-based education, math history, equity/diversity awareness, cooperative learning activities, real-world applications and connections, literature, problem solving, student-collected data and the occasional mathematical magic trick or math song!  (note: I actually have some juried scholarship in the area of incorporating “fun” into teaching, and I am a published songwriter and poet and the first-place winner of a contest sponsored by a national science humor magazine).  I have done outreach events such as Pi Day educational events (at elementary, middle, and high schools) and adult education classes in lottery literacy.    The following representative recent sample of narrative comments [taken from end-of-course evaluations from preservice elementary teachers] show that I offer assignments that were both challenging and engaging: “I really liked that Dr. Lesser used various manipulatives, integrated other subjects with mathematics such as social studies, sang songs to us about mathematical concepts, related math to current events such as the presidential election, he also challenged us and high expectations of his students.” “Very positive attitude and motivated us every class meeting.”  “Made us think – that’s a good thing J  “The instructor’s style is very unique.  He is always looking for things that make class fun, interesting AND educational.” “The assignments have been challenging and fun.  He makes us look forward to seeing if our answers or assumptions were right or wrong.”

 

I was a finalist for AASU’s 2001 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology and was further honored to serve as AASU's university-wide Arthur M. Gignilliat, Jr. Professor (AASU’s premier competitive faculty development award) throughout 2001.  I have also been nominated for the ASA Section on Statistical Education's national Waller Education Award for innovation in teaching the introductory statistics course.  And I was an IMPACT Fellow for the 2005-06 school year under the NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation for Faculty Diversity grant at UTEP to play a leadership role in developing new ways of integrating teaching, research and service.  In 2008, I was the nominee of the UTEP Department of Mathematical Sciences for the Jack R. Bristol Award for Teaching Excellence in the College of Science, I was appointed (representing the College of Science) to the university-wide CETaL Council of Fellows, and I was one of a very small number of professors nationwide invited to audition for the prestigious college lecture product company The Teaching Company.  In 2009, I was nominated for consideration for the UTEP Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award and for one of the UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards, but my application did not go forward for technical reasons.

 

My scholarship on engagement and my ability to write curriculum informed by the latest education research recommendations has led to major textbook writing projects.  I co-authored the 1998 McGraw-Hill text ACT in Algebra: Applications, Concepts and Technology in Learning Algebra, which lets applications (not definitions) launch the mathematics, incorporates modeling and technology appropriately, emphasizes conceptual understanding as well as computational skill, and has realistic acknowledgement of the role of factoring-dependent methods.  In 2007, I was invited to succeed former ASA president (and Founder’s Award winner) David S. Moore on the distinguished Freeman/COMAP author team to prepare the thoroughly-revised 8th edition of the first (and still the best!) applied math-for-liberal-arts textbook For All Practical Purposes and I was given sole responsibility for its four statistics chapters (one of which was chosen to be featured at: http://portals.bfwpub.com/fapp8e.php).

PERSONAL BACKGROUND
I grew up in Houston and have also lived in Austin, Greeley (CO), Savannah (GA), and now El Paso. My biggest involvements outside work are my community of family (especially my soulmate Laurie and our son) and friends, as well as time spent with music (I've been fortunate to overlap this with my professional activities!) and nature.   I’ve been published as a journalist, songwriter (e.g., my “Healing Song”), poet, and humorist.  Several Texas educators are in my family tree, such as my late grandmother Julia Lesser (who taught mathematics with distinction for over 25 years in the Fort Worth public schools; a former student of hers recently wrote my dad: “Your mother taught the girls we could be savvy in math right alongside the boys…your mother opened up the ordered universe for us. I can still see the chalk flying when she hit the board in a frenzy of excitement…..”) and her late sister Sadie Streusand (a teacher and counselor in the Houston public schools), who turned me on to the enrichment of extracurricular mathematics organizations and contests and I aim to continue honoring their memory with my service in the field.   Also, my great aunt Matilda Amstater Shanblum was Teacher of the Year while teaching at El Paso’s Zach White Elementary and the first education scholarship fund at UTEP for future teachers bears her name.  

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