2011 Leadership Team:

• NDSU Faculty:
  
  
  • Angie Hodge
    
    Angie Hodge is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Teacher Education who earned her Ph.D. at Purdue University in 2007. She has been a member of the NDSU faculty since 2007. She teaches courses in both mathematics and teacher education, including the mathematics methods course. She led a team consisting of two mathematics faculty and two middle school teachers to the National Math Teachers’ Circles workshop in Washington, DC in July 2010. Her research interests include pre-service teacher learning, inquiry-based learning, and gender equity in the STEM disciplines. When she's not teaching, you will find her running, traveling, or doing something else active such as yoga.
  
  
  • William Martin
    
    Bill Martin is a professor of mathematics education and currently heads the NDSU School of Education. A former high school math and geography teacher, he has been a faculty member at NDSU in the Department of Mathematics and the School of Education since 1995. His research interests are in the teaching and learning of high school and undergraduate mathematics and assessment of the lasting effects of mathematics instruction. Bill has been active in a number of grants focused on STEM education and is an active member of mathematics organizations including the NDCTM, where he served as newsletter editor for 12 years, NCTM, MAA and AMS.
    
    
  • Doğan Çömez
    
    Doğan Çömez is a Professor of Mathematics who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 1983. He has been in NDSU since 1985. He is currently the department chair of the Mathematics department. He has given mathematical talks for the 4-H Club, the Kiwanis Club, and the North Dakota Governor’s School. He is a leading advocate for departmental programs aimed to attract students to Science and Mathematics. He is currently the Director of the GraSUS Program, that places graduate students in local high schools.
  
  
  • Mohamed Baghzali
    
    Mohamed Baghzali came to the United States in 1989 from Morocco and went to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he graduated 1993 with a Bachelors degree in both Math and Physics. He received his Master of Science degree (mathematics) from North Dakota State University in 2001, where he studied delay differential equations. He has been a lecturer in the math department at NDSU since 2001, where his teaching load has covered College Algebra, Finite Math, Trigonometry, Applied Calculus I and II, and Basic Linear Algebra.
    
    
  • Maxx Kureczko
    
    Maxx Kureczko is a lecturer in mathematics department at North Dakota State University, having just moved to Fargo this year from Albuquerque, New Mexico in August 2010. In 2007, he received a Bachelors degree in mathematics with a minor in biology, and in 2010, a Master of Science degree in Industrial and Applied mathematics, both from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico. As a lecturer graduate student, teacher, and tutor, Maxx has enjoyed teaching and has been interested in math education at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
    


• Lead Teachers:
  
  
  • Kurt Skari- Carl Ben Eielson
    
    Kurt Skari is from Minot, North Dakota. He graduated from Minot High School in 1992, and he attended Minot State University earning degrees in Social Sciences and Mathematics with an emphasis in Secondary Education. He completed his master's degree in Educational Leadership at NDSU. He has taught math for thirteen years in the Fargo Public School District. He resides in Fargo with his wife and two children, ages five and three. He enjoys the challenge of teaching Middle School Mathematics and working with students that are excited about school.
    
    
    
  • Michelle Bertsch- Fargo North
    
    Michelle Bertsch received her Bachelor of Science in secondary education at Minot State University in 1990 and went on to begin her teaching career at Cathedral School in Bismarck. She currently teaches math at Fargo North High School, where she is the chair of the math department and has a Master of Arts in Teaching: Mathematics, also received from Minot State University in 2002. Michelle is very dedicated to her teaching, filling leadership roles and belonging to professional organizations such as the NEA/ NDEA (National/ North Dakota Education Association), FEA (Fargo Education Association), NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) and NDCTM (North Dakota Council of Teachers of Mathematics). In addition to being awarded several grants, she has received many awards, such as the Presidental Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Fargo North's Teacher of the Year. Michelle also is involved and presents in education workshops and education-based research, with a 2005 publication "Teaching with Technology- A Standards-Based Approach."
  
  
  • Cynthia Iwen- Enderlin High School
    
    Cynthia Iwen graduated from Moorhead State University with a double major in math and business. Her first year of teaching was at Braddock, ND, followed by teaching at Watford City High School for 3 years. She has since been teaching at Enderlin Area School for the past 26 years. She is currently teaching Algebra I, General Math, Applied Math, Advanced Algebra, and Advanced Math. She has also taught 8th Grade Math, Consumer Math, Geometry, Applied Geometry, and Word Processing. In addition to teaching, Cynthia runs an after-school program for grades 7-12. Her main interests are in working with graphics calculators and other forms of technology in the classroom and applying them to problem solving. Cynthia is married and has two sons, two daughter-in-laws, and five grandchildren.
    
    
  • Fred Strand- Hatton Public School
    
    Fred graduated from Mayville State University in 1980 with a degree in Mathematics and Phy. Ed. and has been teaching in Hatton, ND for 31 years. In 2008, he earned a Master of Arts in Teaching: Mathematics degree from Minot State University. Fred has taught Math 7, Alg. I, Geometry, Alg. II, Adv. Math & Prob/Stats most of his career and in recent years has been teaching dual credit College Algebra 103 to area high school students via IVN through Mayville State Univ. He was named 2006 ND Teacher of the Year and received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathemacis Teaching in 2009. Helping students enjoy mathematics as an everyday tool is important to me. Fred is married to Donalee, the 4th grade teacher in Hatton, and has 4 sons, 1 daughter-in-law, and 1 granddaughter.