Zalman Usiskin, Professor Emeritus in Education and Director of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, will receive the 2010 Distinguished Life Achievement Award in Mathematics from the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
The award, which will be presented at the ICTM annual meeting Friday, Oct. 15 in Springfield, recognizes demonstrated distinguished and honorable service to mathematics education.
The award is Usiskin’s second from ICTM, which awarded him the Max Beberman Award in 1981 for his “distinguished contributions to mathematics education curriculum or research.”He also has received career achievement awards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, and the Metropolitan Mathematics Club of Chicago.
Usiskin joined the faculty in 1969. He is the author or co–author of more than 150 books and articles on mathematics education curriculum, instruction, testing, and policy.
His pioneering work in curriculum development with transformations in the teaching of geometry and algebra and real–world applications of mathematics in middle and high school courses has influenced current trends in school mathematics.His work and the work of his former students have led UCSMP to be national leader in comparative curricular studies.
With the founding of UCSMP in 1983, he became director of the secondary component and has been the project’s overall director since 1987. The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project has been for many years the nation’s largest university–based curriculum project for pre–kindergarten through 12th–grade mathematics, with millions of students using its elementary and secondary textbooks and other materials.
—William Harms
