Merseth Named to Math Educators Hall of Fame

Professor Kay Merseth was recently inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Mathematics Educators by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Massachusetts (ATMIM). She was inducted in July along with three other math educators.

“It was a thrill to receive this honor from my former colleagues,” Merseth said. “Starting in the classroom near 40 years ago, I have not lost my love for math or the folks who teach it.”

ATMIM, an organization devoted to improving the mathematical education of students in Massachusetts, created the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Math Educators to honor outstanding colleagues in 2000–01. Each year math educators from across the state nominate an educator with a minimum of 20 years involved in mathematics education, who has made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of math education and has a distinguished record as a math teacher in the state.

Merseth began her career as a math teacher at the junior high and high school level, eventually leading to a position as a K–12 math coordinator. Other highlights of Merseth’s math education career include being principal investigator of the Mathematics Case Development Project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and coprincipal investigator of the Teacher Education Addressing Mathematics and Science in Boston and Cambridge Project, also funded by the NSF. At Harvard, she has directed the MidCareer Math and Science Program and the Regional Math Network.