RE Log Fall 2016

FALL 2016 Ransom Everglades LOG 25 Math came easily to MARC DAVID SANDERS during his tenure at Ransom Everglades, so it was a bit surprising that a fresh- man-year course on mathematical logic at Amherst turned into a primer on pain and suffering. “I was just destroyed,” he said. “It was not fun. It was as frus- trating a mental activity as it could possibly be. I got a real understanding of what it’s like to struggle in math.” Sanders struggled, persevered, survived – and emerged loving math all that much more. Sanders went on to get his bachelor’s degree in math at Amherst, then his doctorate at Stanford after producing a dissertation on a subject that, judging by its title, would leave most of the rest of us … well, destroyed: Classifying Spaces and Dirac Operators Coupled to Instantons. “The problem with math is that it’s incredibly hard – until you see one little thing, and then it becomes incredibly easy, and you don’t understand why you were confused before.” Out of Sanders’ collegiate confusion blossomed a career that’s helped bring math’s most complex topics to people around the globe in clear, engaging online courses. After a few years as an assistant professor at Dickinson College and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Sanders returned to northern California and began designing online courses in math for exceptionally bright high school students. He created classes in multivariable calculus, linear algebra, real analysis, differential equations and abstract algebra. His ef- forts helped push Stanford University to the forefront of the online education craze. MARC DAVID SANDERS ’84 Senior Director of Digital Learning Strategy at Stanford University Stanford University, PhD Mathematics Amherst College, BA Mathematics Memorable teacher, class: Dr. Walid El Khoury, AP Physics math Students... be good at math. Be good at thinking critically, analing and synthesizing. Sanders’ courses targeted advanced students not challenged by the traditional high school curriculum, but they also attracted inter- ested adults, pre-teen prodigies – and even a U.S. soldier based in Iraq who wanted to get a jump on his education. The classes proved so successful, Stanford later started one of the first online high schools in the United States. Many of his original classes, Sanders said, continue to be used. As he was designing courses, his experience matured into exper- tise, allowing Sanders to make a number of career leaps at Stanford during his 18 years there. He currently serves as the Senior Direc- tor of Digital Learning Strategy in the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, now devoting more time to leadership issues than calculus problems. He encourages scientists and math- ematicians to develop excellent written and spoken communica- tion skills so they can convey complex messages with clarity. He works with Stanford professors to develop online course content to benefit both students and the school, serving the public good while leveraging the creativity of the teaching faculty. Still, he never left his math roots behind. Many problems he solves daily don’t contain any numbers or mathematical symbols, yet they require that he tap into his educational foundation. Math “is a wonderful space to let your brain exercise,” he said. “It’s all just good stuff that you can apply in lots of other areas, even ar- eas that don’t deal with numbers. For students … be good at math. Be good at thinking critically, analyzing and synthesizing.”