John Mighton

{{Short description|Canadian mathematician, playwright and author}}

John Mighton, O.C. born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on October 2, 1957, is a Canadian mathematician, playwright and best-selling author, who is known for his work to support children's successful math education.{{Cite web |title=About John Mighton - JUMP Math |url=https://jumpmath.org/ca/about/john-mighton/}} Mighton founded JUMP Math as a charity in 2002 and developed the JUMP Math program to address student underachievement in math. Mighton has won national and international awards for his contributions to both math education and Canadian theatre as an internationally recognized playwright.{{Cite web |title=John Mighton - The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-mighton}}

Education

Mighton earned a BA (Philosophy) at the University of Toronto (1978) and a MA (Philosophy) at McMaster University (1984)., later earning a PhD (Mathematics) at the University of Toronto. He was awarded an NSERC fellowship for his postdoctoral research in knot and graph theory.{{Cite web |title=John Mighton Biography |url=https://jumpmath.org/ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2022/09/John-Mighton-BiographySE2022.pdf}} He is a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences and has taught mathematics and math education at the University of Toronto. Mighton has also lectured in philosophy at McMaster University.

Career

Mighton's plays have been performed in theatres worldwide and have been honoured with multiple awards, including the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama, three Dora Awards, and the Chalmers Award.{{Cite web |title=Dora Awards |url=https://tapa.ca/doras/recipients}} His plays include: Possible Worlds, The Little Years, Body & Soul, Scientific Americans, A Short History of Night, and Half Life.

In 1997, Mighton was the math consultant and also played the role of “Tom”, an assistant to the math professor, in the critically acclaimed film, Good Will Hunting.{{Cite web |title=IMDB |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk}}

In 1998, Mighton started a small-scale tutoring group to assist children experiencing challenges in math, though he had abandoned the subject himself for years after struggling with math in school and nearly failing first-year calculus in university.

In 2002 Mighton founded JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) Math, a Canadian charitable organization with the mission to enable every child to learn and love math.{{Cite web |title=JUMP Math Website |url=https://jumpmath.org/ca/about/}}

Mighton has written three books on math, based on his expertise and experiences with JUMP Math, including The Myth of Ability: Nurturing Mathematical Talent in Every Child (2003), which describes his approach and successes with JUMP Math; The End of Ignorance: Multiplying Our Human Potential (2007) as a further exploration of his philosophy and methods; and All Things Being Equal: Why Math is the Key to a Better World (2020).

Awards and honors

Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award for Innovation & Excellence, The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences (2022) {{Cite web |title=Fields Institute |url=http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/news/John-Mighton-JUMP-Math-founder-wins-2022-Margaret-Sinclair-Memorial-Award}}
Adrien Pouliot Award for Outstanding Contributions to Math Education, Canadian Mathematical Society (2022) {{Cite web |title=Canadian Mathematical Society |url=https://cms.math.ca/news-item/mighton-2022-adrien-pouliot-award/#:~:text=John%20Mighton%20(JUMP%20Math)%20is,outstanding%20contributions%20to%20mathematics%20education}}
President’s Award, Professional Engineers Ontario (2020) {{Cite web |title=Professional Engineers Ontario |url=https://www.peo.on.ca/about-peo/awards/presidents-award }}
WISE Award for Innovation in Education (2016) {{Cite web |title=Wise Qatar |url=https://www.wise-qatar.org/innovators-directory/project-type/126/}}
10th Annual Egerton Ryerson Award for Dedication to Public Education (2016) {{Cite web |title=People for Education |url=http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-news/john-mighton-to-be-honoured/ |access-date=2017-06-26 |archive-date=2017-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604202905/http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-news/john-mighton-to-be-honoured/ |url-status=dead }}
Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2015) {{Cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/03/meet-the-2015-social-entrepreneurs-of-the-year/|title=Meet the 2015 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year|website=World Economic Forum}}
Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2014) {{Cite web |title=E&Y Newsroom |url=http://www.ey.com/ca/en/about-us/entrepreneurship/entrepreneur-of-the-year/ey-entrepreneur-of-the-year-national-2014-award-winners}}
Officer of the Order of Canada (2010) {{Cite web |title=Order of Canada |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-12240}}
Ashoka Fellow (2004) {{Cite web |title=Ashoka |url=https://www.ashoka.org/en-ca/fellow/john-mighton}}

Publications

Possible Worlds (1990)
The Myth of Ability (2003) {{Cite web |title=House of Anansi |url=https://houseofanansi.com/products/the-myth-of-ability}}
The End of Ignorance (2007) {{Cite web |title=Penguin House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/114267/the-end-of-ignorance-by-john-mighton/9780676979640}}
A Short History of Night (2007) {{Cite web |title=Playwrights Canada |url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=A%20Short%20History%20of%20Night}}
Half-Life (2005) {{Cite web |title=Playwrights Canada |url=https://www.playwrightscanada.com/Books/H/Half-Life}}
The little years (2012) {{Cite web |title=Playwrights Canada |url=https://www.playwrightscanada.com/Books/T/The-Little-Years}}
Kids JUMP for Math, Scientific American Mind (2013) {{Cite web |title=Scientific American |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/kids-jump-for-math-john-mightons-ju-13-08-07/}}
All Things Being Equal: Why Math Is the Key to a Better World (2020) {{Cite web |title=Penguin House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/552144/all-things-being-equal-by-john-mighton/9780735272903}}

Filmography

Good Will Hunting (1997): Tom - Lambeau's Teaching Assistant {{Cite web |title=IMDB |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0585906|John Mighton}}
[https://jumpmath.org/ca/about/john-mighton/ About John Mighton] at [https://jumpmath.org/ JUMP Math]

{{cite news |title=John Mighton wins $100,000 theatre prize |work=CBC.ca Arts |publisher=CBC |date=2005-10-25 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/john-mighton-wins-100-000-theatre-prize-1.554375 |access-date=2007-05-24}}
{{cite news |last=Morrow |first=Martin |title=Winning Formula: John Mighton touches lives with math and theatre |work=CBC.ca Arts |publisher=CBC |date=2006-10-24 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/theatre/mighton.html |accessdate=2007-05-24}}

Category:Mathematics writers

Category:Living people

Category:1957 births

Category:Officers of the Order of Canada

Category:University of Toronto alumni

Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto

Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights

Category:Canadian mathematicians

Category:Canadian male film actors

Category:Canadian non-fiction writers

Category:Governor General's Award–winning dramatists