CTY Alumni

Jamie Pommersheim (a.k.a. Pomm)

Positions held with CTY:

• Student, Individually Paced Mathematics Sequence (St. Mary's, 1980)
• Teaching Assistant (1982-1984)
• Instructor - Number Theory; Abstract Algebra; Self-Paced Math; Computer Science (Lancaster, 1985-1997; 2002-2009)

Years of service at CTY:

1 summer as a student, 24 summers on staff.

Favorite CTY tradition:

Crabfest

Favorite CTY memory or memories:

Too many to list! After the very last class one summer, as I was walking out the door, an exceptionally talented student approached me and asked, “Can you teach me one more thing?”

Also, as a TA, staying up until 4am playing bridge.

What is most rewarding about working with gifted students?

CTY students give back an enormous amount of energy.  They do not hesitate to show their enthusiasm for the subject.

What is most challenging about working with gifted students?

Setting an appropriate pace during lectures and class discussions can be challenging.  There are always a few students who get everything right away.  It’s important to keep these students engaged even while other students are struggling to understand a new concept.

What do you think was the most important lesson in your subject matter or in life that you taught your students?

I try to help my students see the beauty of mathematics.  The course emphasizes rigorous mathematical proofs.  CTY students, like professional mathematicians, get excited by the idea that you can prove interesting mathematical truths (theorems) using logic and a good bit of cleverness.  Often the proof is just as beautiful as the theorem itself.

Can you describe a “great teaching moment” that happened in your classroom?

In class, we read a proof that Euclid wrote over 2000 years ago.  The logic is just as valid today as it was centuries ago.

What do you think makes CTY special?

CTY is a place of limitless intellectual curiosity.

What are you doing now?

I serve as the Katharine Piggott Professor of Mathematics at Reed College in Portland, OR.  This year, I am on leave researching quantum computing at UCSD with Professor David Meyer, who I met when he was teaching math at CTY and serving as a CTY dean back in the early to mid 1980’s.  We’ve been working together professionally since 2002.

And my book just came out!  Number Theory, A Lively Introduction with Proofs, Applications, and Stories, Wiley, 2010.  Based on the CTY Number Theory course, this college-level textbook provides a rigorous yet accessible introduction to elementary number theory along with relevant applications. A unique feature of the book is that every chapter includes a math myth, a fictional story that introduces an important number theory topic in a friendly, inviting manner.  Some of these myths are based on skits performed regularly as part of the CTY Number Theory class.