Who was that Mathman?
The name 'Mathman' for Don came when he visited the home of a 2nd grader. Upon
reaching the front door, he heard his student inside the house say, "Mom,
here comes the mathman!" Then Don's wife Marilyn ordered a license plate
for their car: MATHMAN. For those of you who remember 'The Lone Ranger', at
Don's 50th birthday party, one of his friends gave him a tee-shirt which had
printed on the back 'Who was that Mathman?'
Don Cohen was born in Jersey City, N.J. He has taught all ages of students for
50 years, the last 29 of those as co-founder and teacher of The Math
Program, with his partner Jerry Glynn.
After 7 years of teaching in a junior high school, he realized there must be
a more enjoyable and effective way to teach math. He searched for alternatives.
This lead to designing new curriculum for NY State; learning about mathematics
and creativity from Bob Davis (who died in Dec. '97) with The Madison Project;
learning what real teaching is about by observing great teachers such as Sue
Monell at Bank Street; teaching teachers; working on PLATO (a computer-based
education system started at the U of IL); all before Don and Jerry invented The
Math Program. This is a great organizational scheme which enables them to work
with about 5 students at a time, in their homes, with students of all abilities
and ages (3 to 73) and have time to write, learn, and work together.
One of the most interesting and satisfying events (besides the birth of his sons
and grandchildren) in Don's life, was the completion of his book
Calculus By and For Young People
(ages 7, yes 7 and up)
which was reviewed in the Dec. 1988 issue of Scientific American, as
well as in many other places. He then, with his son Brian
in IA, produced his two videotapes. In 1992 Don created the worksheet
book, which was an attempt to help young people, parents and teachers, by asking
questions leading to the different ideas in his book and "A Map to
calculus". The third book Don wrote was "Changing Shapes With Matrices". He
has also worked with students around the country and around the world (as far as
Tasmania!), in his Math By Mail Program, now Math By Mail/Email Program with
Instant Messenger and video! Students also come to Champaign from around the
country and the world to work with Don (as far away as Japan!) In 1996 Don
started this web site, begun by Jenny, a soph at MIT who
Don had as a student in The Math Program when she was in 5th grade! Don's
internet server is part-owned by a former 5th grade student! Don's 3 books are
in Japanese as well. These are the good old days!
Don has been blessed with a wonderful wife (of 51+ years), three fine sons, 6 terrific grandchildren and
3 greatgrandchildren! He is a
watercolor artist (see the shell on the main page) and as a friend said, "he takes time to
smell the flowers and gives them to people".
Don with Khaki, then age 17, used the computer program Derive to
"zoom in" on a curve to find the slope of the tangent at a point on
the curve, leading to the derivative. She was preparing for her Fall calculus
class. (see Ch. 14). Khaki is now a teacher!
To order
Don's materials
Mathman Home