Invited Speakers

Biography: Lauren Keough is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University. Her favorite activities as a child in Rhode Island were those that allowed room for creativity, so, at first, she wasn’t a huge math fan. In fact, when she used her creativity to find patterns to do timed multiplication tests, she thought she was cheating. Her love for math started to develop as an undergraduate at Hofstra University where she learned she could be creative in her math courses. Lauren completed her PhD in 2015 at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln under the supervision of Dr. Jamie Radcliffe. Her PhD research is in extremal graph theory, and she especially loves areas where she can involve undergraduates. After graduate school, Lauren spent a year at Davidson College as a visiting assistant professor before moving to Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in 2016. At GVSU, Lauren strives to meet the needs of all undergraduates. She spreads her love of math by mentoring undergraduate research, hosting math circles, and teaching as many different courses as possible. Beyond math, Lauren likes to do crossword puzzles and is learning to embrace winter sports.

Title: Math Circle Magic for All

Abstract: One of my favorite ways to interact with people is through doing problems that people don’t always think of as “math”. I’ve led math circles at GVSU for several years and will present some of my favorite problems. Some of these are magic tricks, and some are just magical in the cool math one discovers while exploring them. This will be an interactive talk where audience members get to discuss math-ish problems with each other and will (hopefully) get to leave with a new discovery of their own.

Biography: Erick is a professor in the mathematics department at UW-River Falls currently in his 28th year of teaching and directs both the undergraduate and graduate mathematics education programs.  One of his focus areas is training, preparing, and supporting math teachers to teach in the middle and high school classroom.  Erick and his colleague developed a unique two-semester apprenticeship model for preparing math teachers prior to student teaching. Much of Erick’s other work over the years has been focused on mathematical modeling, statistics, and the appropriate use of technology at all grade levels.  He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of Minnesota.  From 2009 – 2018 he was the co-PI of 11 grant funded MAA, UW-System, & WI DPI Projects for K-16 math teachers throughout the country and in Wisconsin which resulted in facilitating thousands of hours of professional development.  In 2021, he chaired the grades 6-12 committee for the revision of the WI state math standards and lead the work to include math modeling across all grade levels in the standards.  Erick has the unique distinction with being awarded both of the following awards: the 2019 Distinguished Mathematics Educator Award by the Wisconsin Mathematics Council and the 2025 Distinguished Mathematics Teaching Award by the Wisconsin Section – Mathematical Association of America.

Title: Who are the People in your Mathematical Neighborhood?

Abstract: 

Biography:  Victor Piercey is a Professor of Mathematics at Ferris State University, where he also serves as the Honors Program Director. Piercey earned a Ph.D in mathematics from the University of Arizona with a dissertation in algebraic geometry. He also holds a law degree from Columbia Law School with a certificate in international and comparative law, and an interdisciplinary humanities bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University with concentrations in history, economics, and Russian.  Interdisciplinary work is at the heart of Dr. Piercey’s teaching and scholarship. He has worked closely with business, social work, and nursing faculty to develop a quantitative reasoning course titled Quantitative Reasoning for Professionals. He has integrated his legal experience into his actuarial science teaching, particularly in his financial mathematics course. In addition, he co-leads a team integrating ethical reasoning in mathematics, and has taught ethical reasoning in his quantitative reasoning and actuarial science courses. He has recently started conducting research using data science to contribute to genocide prevention. In his spare time, he enjoys reading history and playing guitar.

Title:  Reflections on Interdisciplinary Teaching Partnerships

Abstract:  Working with interdisciplinary partners to improve teaching is a rewarding experience and makes for better student learning environments. The SUMMIT-P consortium is an NSF-sponsored collection of 12 institutions where mathematics faculty are working with partner discipline faculty to revise and improve course offerings in the first two years of undergraduate education. Their work is based on research entitled “The Curriculum Foundations” conducted by the MAA Committee on Curriculum Renewal Across the First Two Years.   In this talk I will share reflections on the SUMMIT-P experience, including both what we have done at Ferris and what has taken place at other institutions.  I will also discuss ways other institutions could implement what we have learned from SUMMIT-P.