2022 PIMS Education Prize: Sean Graves

PIMS is glad to announce that Sean Graves is the winner of the 2022 Education Prize. Graves is a faculty lecturer in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and the Coordinator for the Decima Robinson Support Centre at the University of Alberta. The selection committee was extremely impressed by his energy and enthusiasm towards teaching, and the impact of his work developing mathematical talent through outreach. This prize, awarded annually by PIMS, recognizes individuals and groups in the PIMS network, Western Canada and Washington State who have played a major role in encouraging activities which have enhanced public awareness and appreciation of mathematics.

“(Graves’) hands-on training focuses on communication, diversity, professionalism, and pedagogically strong teaching techniques. Any person who spends time with Sean talking about mathematics perceives that there is an intrinsic beauty within this discipline: a magic of sorts,” noted Arturo Pianzola, Department Chair at UAlberta.

Sean Graves has been a faculty lecturer since 2011 and has received numerous awards from the University of Alberta for his teaching and service. In 2017 he was awarded the William Hardy Alexander Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. He has been passionate about training future educators in his teaching of math and developed a new course focused on mathematical reasoning for elementary teachers. Sean has also been the lead organizer for UAlberta SNAP Math Fairs each year since 2007, and a co-organizer of the Canadian Mathematics Society’s Alberta Math Summer Camp, for students aged 12-15 years. His continuous dedication to mathematics students of all ages, as well as teachers is inspiring to many.