Board of Directors
Glenn Allinger
Glenn Allinger is retired from the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Montana State University-Bozeman. “In the beginning”, Glenn taught mathematics and coached at the middle school and high school levels in both Ohio and New Jersey. He then followed his dream to become a teacher of teachers. After earning a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Utah in 1972, Glenn joined the faculty at MSU-Bozeman to work with both undergraduate and graduates, traveling to numerous Montana communities. That effort was extended to the national scene by work as co-chair of Professional Development for the 1990’s Systemic Initiative for Mathematics and Sciences (SIMMS) NSF project. After 26 years at MSU-Bozeman and 36 years consumed by teaching, professional development and research, Glenn and wife, Lee, continue to reside in Bozeman and at Canyon Ferry Lake. He enjoys fishing, hunting, biking, reading, visiting children/grandchildren and volunteering for many good causes.
Paul Andersen
Paul Andersen currently teaches biology at Bozeman High School. He is also the technology coordinator for the high school. He is a relatively new member to the board and is currently working on upgrading the MLC website. He enjoys spending time with his family skiing and hiking in the mountains around Bozeman. Paul and Scott Taylor just completed a summer trip to the Galapagos Islands with a group of AP Biology students from Bozeman High. Paul was recently named 2011 Montana Teacher of the Year.
Craig Beals
Craig Beals is a science teacher at Billings Senior High School in Billings, MT. In the last few years Craig has researched aerosol effects at the Summit of Greenland's ice sheet and studied ecological issues of the Steppe in Mongolia as he pursues a Masters in Zoology from Miami University in Ohio. He holds a deep passion for the Montana outdoors and can often be found chasing game in the fall or casting a line at rising Rainbow trout. Teaching science has allowed Craig to intertwine his passion for nature with his passion of teaching and the beautiful state of Montana offers the ideal classroom.
Glenn Bradbury
Glenn Bradbury, technology educator at Bozeman Senior High School, has been elected to the MLC Board. He leads one of only two engineering design programs at the HS levels (other is in Billings) in MT. Glenn is past president of Technology Education Association of Montana (TEAM) and state affiliate representative of the International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA). He was the 2004 recipient of the TEAM Pollette/Armstrong Educational Leadership Award and the 2007 & 2011 recipient of the ITEEA Program Excellence Award. Glenn is a Century Link (Formerly Qwest) Math and Science Leader who has presented at the last two Springtime in the Rockies Conferences.
Mary Buck
Mary Buck graduated from Eastern Montana College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She has a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University-Bozeman and a Masters Degree in Administration from the University of Montana. She had a 30 year career in public education working at the high school and middle school levels teaching mathematics and also served as a building administrator at the middle school level.
Mary has been active in the mathematics profession at the local, state and national level. Locally, she served on the mathematics curriculum committee and was responsible for implementing mathematics programs in the district. At the state level, Mary served on the MCTM Board of Directors and was also MCTM President. As a member of MCTM, she served on various committees, organizing annual state conventions and NCTM Regional Conventions in the state. At the National level, Mary has served on NCTM's Regional Services Committee, Teaching Children Mathematics Editorial Panel and the NCTM Board of Directors. Mary has been a speaker at numerous state, regional and national conventions.
When Mary left public education she worked as a national mathematics consultant for Pearson. During her time with Pearson, Mary was a part of a middle school research project funded by America Institutes of Research. The research project focused on rational numbers in the middle school and the research around cognitive demand of mathematics problems, student struggle and the need to make important mathematics explicit to students. Mary is currently an independent mathematics consultant working out of her home office in Helena, MT.
Marco Ferro
Marco Ferro is a native Montanan. He was raised in Billings. He spent 25 years teaching choral music in the Bozeman area. He has a BA and an MA from MSU Bozeman in Music Education. Marco was the choral music teacher at Bozeman High School for 16 years. Prior to teaching in Bozeman Marco taught in Belgrade and at MSU Bozeman. For 10 years he was the choral conductor for the Bozeman Symphony Choir. Marco currently works for MEA-MFT as director of public policy and professional development. His duties include working closely with the Office of Public Instruction and the Board of Public Education on issues concerning K-12 education in Montana. Also, Marco administers the National Board Certification and Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching programs for the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation.
Don Hurd
Don Hurd is a physicist and computer scientist, who is retired from ESL & TRW Space & Defense. At the peak of my career I was systems engineering manager / program manager of $100M top-secret reconnaissance programs for US military intelligence agency. He and wife, Elaine are both Sidney natives, relocating to Helena in 2000 where his volunteer work has been focused on education projects including collaboration with the ExplorationWorks museum, part-time teaching at Carroll College and serving as a mentor/coach for the Helena Robotics Team. In the latter role, Don and John Miller (Capital HS science) took a 2011 team to the World Robotics competition in St. Louis. He is an avid mountain bike rider. From 1970 to 1995 his passion was flying sailplanes (gliders). Don logged over 3000 hours & 100,000 miles in cross-country soaring, competing internationally while setting 5 national and 1 world record. Don and Elaine have been married 52 years and enjoy the company of 6 married daughters and 16 grandchildren.
Beth Thomas
Beth Thomas has been teaching for eighteen years, twelve of those at the middle school level. Currently, she teaches middle school science and has experience teaching environmental education to first through twelfth graders in the Great Falls Public Schools. Her Master's degree in education is from Northern Montana College. She won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching in 2003 in Montana. Being selected as one of twelve teachers in the nation to work with scientists with the Spitzer Space Telescope has been a highlight of her career for the past eight years. In April of 2011, she traveled to Ukraine for a cultural exchange in the Teaching Excellence Achievement Program through the State Department. Beth has had the privilege of traveling to on educational fieldtrips to Florida and Hawaii with students for the last ten years. Beth and her husband have three children and they enjoy spending time at their cabin at Gates of the Mountains.
Marie Vanisko
Marie Vanisko is now a Professor Emerita at Carroll College where she began teaching mathematics in 1967. Throughout the 80’s and 90’she was active in many Montana mathematics projects, including the SIMMS project. In 2001, she was a visiting professor at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and then taught for five years at California State University Stanislaus. Marie recently chaired the College Board committee for the SAT Subject Tests in Mathematics and served on the national joint MAA/NCTM Committee on Mutual Concerns that was established by Johnny Lott. While in California, she co-directed MAA Tensor Foundation grants on Preparing Women for Mathematical Modeling, a program encouraging more high school girls to select careers involving science and mathematics, and was also active in the MAA PMET (Preparing Mathematicians to Educate Teachers) project. Marie serves as a member of the Engineering Advisory Board at Carroll College and is a judge for both the MCM and HiMCM COMAP contests. Marie is enjoying her semi-retirement and loves spending time with her family, including her three grandchildren.
Marvin Weber
Marvin Weber has worked for over 14 years as a senior database analyst in Helena, MT providing system architecture, data modeling, data management, and overall system support services for Federal, State, and private sector clients primarily in the domains of criminal justice and public health. He graduated from Carroll College in 1995 with degrees in mathematics and computer science and has previously taught classes in Oracle database administration at the UM Helena College of Technology. For over 25 years, he has been an avid practitioner of martial arts and helps teach classes in traditional Chinese kung fu at the Chinese Martial Arts Center in Helena. Marvin truly enjoys teaching and sharing the joys of learning with students of all ages and backgrounds. He delights in spending time with his family (including the three cats and two dogs) and as a native Montanan, indulges in many of the outdoor activities found in the state including hiking, skiing, camping, rafting, and especially fly fishing on the Missouri and Blackfoot rivers. Someday he hopes to find all of that elusive free time to get back to fly tying and wood working.
Ke Wu
Ke Wu is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Montana, email: ke.norman@mso.umt.edu.
I finished my Ph.d. degree in mathematics education and master’s degrees in counseling psychology and applied mathematics from the University of Minnesota and moved to the lovely state of Montana in 2008. I have taught content courses for K-8 ad 5-12 grades pre-service teachers and graduate courses for in-service 5-12 grades teachers. Currently my primary teaching interest lies in middle school mathematics teacher preparation and professional development. I have developed new content courses such as “Teaching and Learning Fractions”, “Numbers and Patterns”, and “Rational Numbers” for K-8 pre-service teachers who intend to teach middle school mathematics as well as in-service middle school teachers.
My research interests focus on two areas: (1) Assessing student learning and understanding after experiencing a mathematics curriculum or an innovative teaching method. I have had the experience of working on large longitudinal data to answer research questions. (2) Transition of students from high school to college (2-year or 4-year) and from 2-year to 4-year college, especially their learning experience in mathematics and factors that contribute to their success in college mathematics courses.
As a relatively new member of the Montana Learning Center, I look forward to meeting new teachers, students, and parents. I am exited to work with local communities and school districts on the teaching and learning of mathematics and the integration of mathematics into other disciplines. I am also eager to meet more mathematics and other STEM educators in the state of Montana.
