Competition Honorees

  • Steve Sigur, Paideia School

    Steve Sigur was born and raised in Atlanta. He received a B.S in Physics from Brown University and an M.S. in Physics from University of Maryland.

    When Steve applied for a teaching position at the Paideia School in 1974, the Headmaster Paul Bianchi checked with an Atlanta public school where Steve worked. According to the principal, Steve spent his summers in the woods in Canada and lived with the bears instead of taking special courses about teaching gifted students. One year Steve requested a a part-time teaching load and was paid for half a day. The principal also mentioned, Do you know what he did with the other half of his day? He spent it working with the kids on his own time. He was here all day long. What do you make of that? Never seen it before. When asked, What kind of teacher is Steve? the principal replied, Best teacher I have in the school.

    Steve has taught mathematics classes and occasional physics classes at Paideia. As a tribute to Steve, Paul Bianchi said, Steve Sigur is a teacher who changes the lives of students in mathematics and in so many other ways. He has not only done this with Paideia students for over three decades, but also with mathematics students throughout Georgia.

    An American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) coach for the last 23 years, Steve Sigur was named the ARML Outstanding Coach of the Year at Penn State in June 2007. This was the first time someone from Georgia had been selected.

    Steve is deeply interested in expressing mathematical concepts through the use of computer and graphical programs, particularly in his favorite field of geometry. He is working on a book, soon to be published, with John Conway at Princeton named The Triangle Book. In August 2008, Steve Sigur will be a speaker at the Math Association of America's MathFest in Madison, Wisconsin. It is no surprise that his talk will be about triangle geometry.

    For information about Steve Sigur's teaching and interests, please visit his homepage at www.paideiaschool.org/TeacherPages/Steve_Sigur/index.html