Meet 2025 Anja S. Greer Conference Leaders
Eric Bergofsky
Phillips Exeter Academy
Born and raised in Baltimore, Eric graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1972. After a 4-year stint) at the McDonogh School of Baltimore, he joined the Exeter Math Department in 1977 and also began coaching the boy’s varsity lacrosse team, which he continued until 2013. Eric served as director of the Anja Greer Conference from 1986. He founded the Exeter Mathematics Institute (EMI) outreach program for public school teachers in 1992 and was director of EMI until 2013. Eric served 5 years as chair of the Exeter math department from 2013.
Chris Bolognese
Columbus Academy
Chris has been a high school math and computer science teacher for 17 years in both public and private schools. Chris currently teaches math and computer science in the upper school at Columbus Academy in Ohio. Chris was the 2021 state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and the 2017 Ohio state teacher of the year. He enjoys writing math contest problems, creating Desmos activities, and having his students construct their own problems. In his free time, he plays bass in a number of bands, collects vinyl records, and hangs with his four pets.
Curtis Brown
Texas Instruments Inc.
Curtis taught mathematics and AP® Statistics in Pasadena, TX and spent 5 years working for the National Math and Science Initiative as the Statistics Curriculum Coordinator. He currently works as the Math Segment manager at Texas Instruments Inc. Since starting at TI in 2015 he has led many content development projects including the Modeling with Mathematics series. He has always found joy in exploring the patterns and logic of mathematics. In his spare time he enjoys kayak fishing, and mountaineering with his sons and spending time with his family.
Dan Butler
The Lovett School
Dan has been teaching math at the middle school and high school level for the past 39 years in the public and private school systems. He has taught all mathematics courses from pre-algebra to multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Dan gives numerous workshops in mathematics both in the United States and abroad. He has been involved in professional development workshops for the past 35 years, including ten years as a teacher leader in the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation and 31 years as an instructor in the Anja S. Greer Conference. Dan is passionate about math and math education.
Sean Campbell
Phillips Exeter Academy
Sean Campbell currently teaches computer science and the occasional geometry class at Phillips Exeter Academy. He is also the coordinator of the Design Lab, PEA’s campus makerspace.
Rebecca Courter
Charlotte Latin School
Rebecca Courter earned her Ph.D. in pure math from the University of Southern California began her teaching career at Pasadena City College in California. Her family moved to North Carolina in 2020 and she began teaching High School math at Charlotte Latin School. She loves puzzles and sharing her love of math, logic, and proofs with her students. Her favorite math joke is, “What did zero say to eight? … Nice Belt!” Her current interests include effective pedagogy and helping students develop a growth mindset through quick and intentional activities in math class.
Diana Davis
Phillips Exeter Academy
Diana teaches math, coaches girls cross country and is a dorm head at PEA. She previously created and taught problem-centered, discussion-based math classes at Northwestern University, Williams College and Swarthmore College. Outside of teaching and pedagogy, she does research in geometry, dynamical systems, and gerrymandering. She also attended PEA as a highly engaged high school student. Diana has worked at the conference since 2004 and as a leader since 2012. She loves to create opportunities for people to think deeply about math and discuss it with each other.
Josie Derrick
One Stone
Josie Derrick is the Lead Math Innovator at One Stone, a non-profit independent high school in Boise, Idaho. She has been a full-time educator for three years with two years part-time experience prior to that. She has a bachelor’s in Mathematics with Secondary Education Emphasis as well as a master’s in Education, Curriculum and Instruction and teaching endorsements for math and computer science. She has a passion for inspiring a love of mathematics through student-driven exploration and real world application.
Jess Emory
Phillips Exeter Academy
A New Hampshire native, Jess returned to the Granite State after spending five years teaching in private schools in New York City, a semester as an associate lecturer at the Royal Thimphu College in Bhutan, and a term working as a researcher at IIIT Hyderabad in India. Her teaching adventure started at Meridian Academy in Massachusetts, teaching in mixed-age, project-based, grade-free classrooms empowering students to find their love of STEM while completing New Teachers Collaborative at the Ted Sizer Essential School. Outside the classroom, Jess loves to go for walks in the woods, read, bake, all things D&D, and travel.
Brent Ferguson
F.E.R.G. Math Mentoring
Brent has been teaching for 32 years across a variety of settings: East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest; public and private (both boarding and day schools); and serving boys, girls, and coed communities. His experience spans high school (primarily), middle school (occasionally), and collegiate levels (currently). A participant in the PEA Greer Conference in 1997, he is thrilled to return to this vibrant gathering of sharing, learning, and connection.Currently, Brent mentors teachers through professional development opportunities and actively engages in forums like NCTM as a form of ongoing professional “re-creation.” He’s passionate about puzzles of all kinds—jigsaw, mathematical, word-based, and more—and enjoys a spirited game of ultimate frisbee. Brent resides in Princeton, NJ, with his amazing spouse.
Mahmoud Harding
Data Science 4 Everyone
Mahmoud Harding is a NC native who has taught math and data science at NCSSM and NC State for the past several years. He enjoys developing course material and collaborating with colleagues on projects. From 2002 to 2017 he taught in the Middle East at both university and secondary schools. Previously, he worked as a programmer at Vf Corporation and as a systems analyst at both IBM and Revlon. Currently, he works for Data Science 4 Everyone as an instructional designer and advocate for the inclusion of data literacy and science in K-12 education.
Thomas Hill
Brewster Academy
Tom earned a B.A. in mathematics at the University of Colorado, then attended Keene State College to earn his education certification. He has been teaching high school mathematics at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire since 2015. He has taught a range of classes from algebra II to AP calculus. He enjoys a good pun and an even better board game.
Jeff Ibbotson
Phillips Exeter Academy
Jeff has been teaching at PEA since 1995. Prior to that he taught mathematics at Merrimack College. While there, he designed a course in history of mathematics for secondary level teachers. He has also been involved in teaching advanced math at high schools (group theory, real and complex analysis and game theory) and currently serves on the MAA’s Board of Governors.
Ron Lancaster
University of Toronto
Ron is an associate professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, where he taught mathematics courses for pre-service teachers for 17 years. Ron taught grades 7-12 math for 23 years in coed public schools and a K-12 all-girls school. Ron’s professional activities include consultations and conference presentations in North America, Asia, England, the Middle East, Africa and India. Ron has authored/edited over 150 articles for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is the recipient of the 2015 Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award in Mathematics Education awarded by the Fields Institute.
Karen Latham
Phillips Exeter Academy
Karen brought to Exeter more than 25 years of experience teaching math at the high school, college and, most recently, middle school levels. She has been at the Pike School since 2007, where she served as department chair since 2013.
Greta Mills
The Greene School
Greta’s fascination with math has evolved from a love of pure math to embracing its applications. Her teaching career has focused largely on helping students and teachers develop a modeling mindset. In her current role as Director of Curriculum, Greta has introduced data science and modeling into the mathematics curriculum. Greta has been a judge for the M3 Challenge since 2012 and is serving as the NCTM judge for the HiMCM Modeling Contest. She is a member of the Math Modeling Hub Steering Committee, whose aim is to facilitate the integration of mathematical modeling in classrooms.
Tom Reardon
Austintown Fitch High School and Youngstown State University
Tom taught for 35 years at Fitch High School and 39 years at Youngstown State University. Since 1995, he has provided professional development about creatively integrating pedagogy and technologies appropriately in 7-12 math classrooms in 49 states and eight countries. His specialties are math modeling for social awareness, transformation graphing and geometry, problem solving strategies, ACT/SAT math prep. Tom is a frequent speaker at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and other national, state and regional conferences. He is a Presidential Awardee and has earned National Board Certification.
Johnothon Sauer
William Mason High School
Johnothon is a teacher at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. 2025 will mark his 25th year at Mason and his 36th year of teaching. Raised in Columbus, Ohio, Johnothon earned his B.S.Ed. from The Ohio State University, taking courses that led to his certification to teach mathematics and music in grades 7-12. He subsequently earned his M.A.T. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from The University of Cincinnati. Johnothon is a strong advocate of student-centered, discussion-based learning and assessment, and in particular of the Harkness Method of instruction.
J
essica Schenkel
Porter-Gaud School
Jessica has been an instructor of mathematics for the past 14 years in public, independent and boarding schools. She is an advocate for offering a rigorous, relevant mathematics curriculum that meets every learner where they are. She currently serves as the Mathematics Department chair at Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina and has taught a variety of courses from algebra I to AP calculus. Jessica believes in designing class activities that are discovery-based and engaging, giving students multiple opportunities to become flexible, discerning problem solvers and thinkers.
Julie Van Wright
Phillips Exeter Academy
Julie has taught a wide range of middle and high school math classes over the last 10 years. Before joining the math faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy in 2019, Julie developed and taught student-centered and Harkness-based math classes at independent schools in Rhode Island and Colorado. While she enjoys teaching at all levels, Julie especially appreciates teaching Algebra 1, where so many underlying concepts come together to help students build their future foundational understanding of math.
Theo Wells
Skew The Script
Theo is a high school math teacher and content creator in Chicago. During their eight years as an educator, they taught everything from Algebra to Ztatistics (A to Z joke). In addition to teaching AP statistics and precalculus, they currently coaches boys and girls soccer.