Teachers
Alex Perlin (Gold Medal, International Math Olympiad)
Alex Perlin grew up in St Petersburg, Russia. He has been interested in Mathematics since the age of 11. In his junior and senior years of high school, Alex Perlin both achieved the top score in the Soviet Union Math Olympiad and earned a gold medal at the International Math Olympiad. Subsequently he served on the jury of a number of Math Olympiads, contributing original problems and grading contestants' solutions. He enjoys working with students. He was a teaching assistant in two summer camps for middle school kids interested in math. While in a graduate program, he taught recitation sections in differential equations and probability and received one of the two annual teaching prizes awarded by the MIT Math Department. Alex Perlin holds a diploma with honors from St. Petersburg State University, and a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from MIT. His field of concentration was Probability Theory. Alex has been employed by the D. E. Shaw group* as a quantitative analyst since 2001, the year he completed his graduate studies. Alex has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2006.
*The D. E. Shaw group is not affiliated with Math-M-Addicts.
Alexander Krol (Master of Financial Engineering, Cornell University)
Alex hails from the Chicago area and grew up as a lover of puzzles and games. He eventually found himself as captain of his high school math team and competed in numerous state and national math + computer science competitions. Alex later studied electrical and computer engineering at Cornell, but the financial world’s mathematical puzzles caught his eye, and he pivoted to a Master’s in financial mathematics. Alex hopes to make math fun (please excuse his terrible math jokes..) and help others find joy in working through and solving interesting problems (in other words, you better do your homework!). Alex currently works as a portfolio manager at BlackRock and has been teaching at Math-M-Addicts since 2016.
Andre Arslan
Andre grew up in NYC, where he went to Hunter College High School. While in high school he spent four years enrolled in Math-M-Addicts and was a USA Math Olympiad winner his junior year. He later attended Princeton where he continued to study math. Andre currently works in finance. He has been teaching at MMA since 2020.
Bobby Lee (A.B. in Economics, Harvard University)
Bobby Lee grew up in various different cities before going to Harvard for undergrad, but views Huntsville Alabama as the town where he grew up, graduating from Grissom High School where he competed in several state and national math competitions. Bobby currently works in finance and has been teaching with Math-M-Addicts since 2016.
David Opela (Bronze Medal, International Math Olympiad)
David Opela grew up in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. Starting in 5th grade, he participated in, and later organized various math competitions and camps. He won the Czech Math Olympiad in 1996 and earned a bronze medal at that year's IMO in Mumbai, India. He continued studying mathematics (focusing on functional analysis) for the next 10 years at Charles University in Prague and later at Washington University in St. Louis. In August 2006, he moved to New York to join D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.* as a quantitative analyst. David has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2012.
*The D. E. Shaw group is not affiliated with Math-M-Addicts.
David Tereshchenko (Master's Student, Rice University)
David grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended Lower Moreland High School. In 2014, he started his career in the US Navy, where he completed the Naval Nuclear Training Program and subsequently worked on nuclear and electrical control systems aboard an aircraft carrier. David received his Bachelor’s in mathematics from Nova Southeastern University in two years, where he also taught recitation courses in pre-calculus. He also holds an MBA from New York University and is currently completing a master’s in computer science from Rice University while working in energy finance.
Gil Wiechman (PhD, Electrical Engineering, Technion)
Gil Wiechman grew up in Israel where he attended Tel-Aviv University's Handesa'im Technical High School. As a high-school senior, he enjoyed playing a part in designing a new robotics course and teaching the course to freshmen students. He discovered the beauty of mathematics only as an undergraduate engineering student at Technion, Israel where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering, a B.A. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. Throughout his graduate studies, he served as a teaching assistant in several courses receiving the Excellence in Teaching award numerous times. Gil has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2010.
Harold Li (USAMO Qualifier)
Harold Li grew up in Hong Kong and went to high school at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he participated in individual and team math competitions (AMC, AIME, USAMO, ARML, HMMT) and served as a head peer tutor. At Princeton, he studied Operations Research, and found a passion for data science and machine learning. He currently works at Meta as a Data Science Manager and spends his free time golfing, playing tennis and squash, and blogging about sports analytics. Harold joined Math-M-Addicts in 2023.
Ian Cheung (Captain, Le High Vallet Fire team)
Ian grew up right outside New York City, where he first fell in love with both mathematics and math competitions. He attended Math-M-Addicts between 8th and 12th grade and qualified for the USAMO his senior year. He captained the Lehigh Valley Fire team in 2018 when they placed third at ARML. He recently graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in finance and statistics and as an undergraduate, he achieved an honorable mention in the William Lowell Putnam competition. Ian also began tutoring other students in everything from Algebra to Calculus to the AMCs. Ian started teaching at MMA in 2023, seeking to inspire MMA students the same way he was, almost a decade ago.
Iaroslava Korenovska (Ph.D, Probability Theory, Ukraine)
Iaroslava grew up in Odesa, Ukraine. She received her B.S. in Mathematics from Mechnikov National University of Odesa and M.S. in Mathematics from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. While studying for her Master's degree, she taught math circles for children at middle and high school levels. After graduation, Iaroslava conducted scientific research in the Department of Stochastic Processes of the Institute of Mathematics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine where she got her Ph.D. in Probability Theory. Iaroslava moved to New York in 2022 and works in software development. She joined Math-M-Addicts in 2023.
Jeff Barg (B.S. in Computer Science and Economics, University of Pennsylvania)
Jeff is the current founder & CTO of Avenue Technologies. Previously he was a software engineer at Amazon, where he worked on the AI platform that powers Amazon Alexa. He studied computer science & economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jinpeng Chang (Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering, MIT)
Growing up in China, Jinpeng Chang developed a keen interest in math and participated in various math contests, winning first prize in national middle school olympiad and national high school olympiad. Jinpeng went on to graduate from Tsinghua University and MIT with degrees in nuclear engineering. He worked as an exotic options trader for Deutsche Bank for 5 years, and has been a derivatives portfolio manager since. He currently works for Deepcurrents Investment Group.
Jon X (USAMO Qualifier)
Jon started liking math in middle school and became involved with existing math activities (AMCs, ARML, etc.). He studied electrical engineering and computer science for college. His favorite math subject is probability/statistics, but loves all sorts of math almost as much. He joined Math-M-Addicts in 2020.
Kolya Malkin (PhD student, Yale University)
Kolya Malkin was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and grew up in Seattle. He has been interested in mathematics for as long as he can remember. As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, while remaining an enthusiastic mathematics student, he grew into an enthusiastic mathematics teacher. He was a principal instructor in University of Washington Math Circles and other classes, worked as a teaching assistant for summer programs and undergraduate courses, and was on the jury and problem-writing committee of the UW Math Olympiad. Kolya graduated from UW, magna cum laude with honors in Mathematics, in 2015, and is now a PhD student at Yale University. He joined Math-M-Addicts in 2015.
Long Hua (Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics)
Long grew up in China looking for challenging mathematical problems in a pre-smartphone era. His search led him to the puzzles of modern physics at the University of Science and Technology of China. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics for studies in string theory (otherwise known as the "Theory of Everything"). As a Visiting Scientist at the Center for Theoretical Physics at MIT, Long discovered new mathematical puzzles in financial applications. He currently works in financial mathematics and tries to keep his chess rating close to two thirds of his teenage son's. Long joined Math-M-Addicts in 2019.
Luba Pesis (Master’s in Actuarial Science, Temple University)
Luba grew up in Kiev, Ukraine. She graduated from a specialized mathematics-physics high school and earned a degree in mathematics from Moscow State University. After moving to the United States, she completed her master’s degree in Actuarial Science at Temple University and later became a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS). Luba spent many years in the financial industry, both in research and risk management positions, and is currently working in a senior quantitative role at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. In addition to her love of mathematics, her interests include literature and foreign languages. She enjoys tutoring students and is excited about joining the teaching team at MMA!
Madalina P (Gold and Silver Medals, International Math Olympiad)
Madalina has been interested in Mathematics since the age of 10 when she started participating in math competitions. During high school she qualified for the IMO 3 times, securing one gold medal (2009) and two silvers (2007, 2008). She completed a B.A. in Mathematics at Harvard where she was a teaching fellow for 6 courses and was awarded a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching for each of them. Madalina holds a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from MIT and currently works in finance. She has been teaching at Math-M-Addicts since 2019.
Melissa Yeung (Ph.D. in Mathematics, California Institute of Technology)
Melissa enjoys sharing the joy of solving challenging problems, learning beautiful mathematics, and laughing at math jokes. She was previously the Head Counselor for the middle school program at the University of Chicago's Young Scholars Program and was a teaching assistant for the SESAME program at the University of Chicago, the Summer Math Program at Carleton College, and the New York Math Circle. She graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology. In her spare time, she wants to learn to cross country ski, become a better pianist, and learn more math!
Mikhail Shklyar (Captain, Brooklyn Tech Math Team)
Mikhail Shklyar came to New York at the age of 14 from St. Petersburg, Russia, with weak English, but a strong desire to do math. He went to the Brooklyn Technical High School where, as the captain of the math team, he placed first in the New York City (NYML) and New York State (NYSML) math competitions. He moved on to Columbia University, where he won first place in a competition among first-year and then second-year students. However, solving problems under time limit was not his biggest passion. He was much more interested in learning advanced topics in mathematics and then teaching them to others. He has spent four of his summers working as a junior staff member at different math programs and has greatly enjoyed himself there. He is excited about the opportunity to work with intelligent students during the school year. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Mathematics at the CUNY Graduate Center. Mikhail has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2009.
Miroslava Sotakova (Silver Medal, International Math Olympiad)
Mirka grew up in Slovakia. She discovered her love of math in elementary school, and it remains her passion to this day. She participated in numerous competitions and regularly attended math camps, eventually winning a silver medal at IMO 2000 in Korea. After getting an MSc degree in mathematics from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Aarhus University, Denmark, she moved to NYC where she is a software engineer at Google.
Misha Kogan (Top 15, William Lowell Putnam Competition)
Misha Kogan grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. When he was 12, Misha started participating in math contests and joined a Math Circle. Joining the Circle had a big impact on Misha's life and he's been doing math ever since. During his senior year in high school he earned a First Diploma in the Soviet Math Olympiad. He moved to the United States a year later and studied at NYU's Courant institute. He was a member of NYU's Putnam team, and placed in top 15 in 1993. Misha continued studying math at MIT, where he earned a Ph.D. in symplectic geometry in 2000. For the next five years Misha was doing research and teaching math. He held positions at Northeastern University and The Institute for Advanced Study. Misha is currently a managing director at the D. E. Shaw Group*. He has been teaching at Math-M-Addicts since 2014.
*The D. E. Shaw Group is not affiliated with Math-M-Addicts.
Monish Kumar (B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi)
Monish has a B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York. He has a deep interest in math and efficient problem solving, and loves to share (inflict) interesting problems on friends, colleagues, and his kids. Monish is energized to share this interest with his students. He also hopes to apply math to improve his golf scores, which, so far, have a high mean and a large standard deviation. Monish works with Boston Consulting Group as a Senior Partner in their Financial Services Practice.
Natalia Lukina (M.S. in Applied Math and Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology)
Natalia Lukina grew up in Korolev, Russia. She participated in math and physics olympiads throughout her high school years. Natalia received B.S. and M.S. degrees with Honors from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. During her student years she taught and tutored at Phystech College. Later, Natalia studied and worked as a teaching assistant at Caltech and received an M.S. degree in 2001. Since then Natalia has taught math at a wide variety of schools. Her areas of expertise are working with gifted and talented kids and preparing students for math competitions.
Oleg Kovrizhkin (Ph.D., Harmonic Analysis, Caltech)
Oleg Kovrizhkin grew up in Russia. He has competed in Math Olympiads since he was 13, winning prizes at the All-Russian Math Olympiads and placing thirds in the All-Union (national) Math Olympiad in the former USSR. Oleg studied applied math and physics at Moscow Institute Of Physics and Technology and got his Ph.D. in Harmonic Analysis from Caltech. He spent three years in academia at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and at MIT doing research in Harmonic Analysis. Since then, Oleg has been working in the financial industry as a quantitative researcher and is currently employed at Bloomberg, L.P.
Oleg Ledeniov (M.Sc. in Computer Science, Technion)
Oleg Ledeniov was born in Moscow and grew up on books by Martin Gardner and Raymond Smullyan. After moving to Israel, he earned B.A. summa cum laude and M.Sc. in Computer Science from Technion, where he specialized in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. He got his first taste of teaching as a teaching assistant at Technion and at the Open University of Israel. After graduation, Oleg worked as a software engineer in several companies. He is currently employed by GE Healthcare and creates imaging software for radiologists, which is used in hundreds of major hospitals worldwide. Oleg joined Math-M-Addicts in 2018 and is happy to be a part of this fantastic school.
Ping Sun (PHD, Theoretical Physics)
Ping Sun grew up in Shanghai, China. During high school, Ping participated in various math competitions, including AMC and AIME. He studied physics in college and graduate school and earned a PhD in theoretical physics. Ping currently works in Fintech, and still enjoys solving math problems.
Roman Gutkovich (M.Sc., Computational Finance, Carenegie Mellon University)
Roman Gutkovich grew up in St Petersburg, Russia and developed a love for physics while attending Physics and Mathematics School #239. He completed his PhD in fluid dynamics in St Petersburg and later completed a second Masters in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University. Subsequently, he has moved on to more practical applications and works in software development and finance. Prior to joining MMA in 2019, Roman coached the Lower Grades math team at NEST+m.
Roman Muchnik (B.S., Mathematics, Caltech; Ph.D., Mathematics, Yale University)
Roman grew up in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. He has been interested in mathematics and problem solving since an early age; a passion that was fostered and developed by great teachers. While in school, Roman participated in a number of math competitions and won numerous prizes including a second diploma in the Soviet Union Math Olympiad.Roman received a B.S. in Mathematics from CalTech and Ph.D in Mathematics from Yale University. Roman did his post-doctorate work at the University of Chicago and then worked as an assistant professor at Lehman College. Currently Roman works at Nomura Securities* where he leads the equity derivatives quantitative group.
*The Nomura Securities group is not affiliated with Math-M-Addicts.
Ruvim Breydo (Bronze Medal, International Math Olympiad)
Ruvim Breydo emigrated from Russia in 1987 when he was 14. Back in Russia, Ruvim attended St. Petersburg's 239 School - one of the most successful math programs in the country. He became a member of the New York City Math Team and participated in various math contests. Ruvim achieved a second place finish in the 1991 USA Math Olympiad and a bronze medal in the 1991 International Math Olympiad. He first fell in love with teaching as a captain of the Stuyvesant High School math team when he was a senior. All throughout college, Ruvim continued to tutor students. Ruvim Breydo graduated from Harvard summa cum laude in 1995 with an AB in Physics. He is currently a managing director at the D. E. Shaw group*, a global investment and technology development firm. Ruvim has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2005.
*The D. E. Shaw group is not affiliated with Math-M-Addicts.
Sasha Rozenberg (3rd prize, All-USSR Physics Olympiad)
As a child, Sasha enjoyed solving math and logic problems until he discovered physics in middle school. He won various diplomas in physics Olympiads throughout high school and in college (which allowed him to skip the final exams). Figuring out what the world is made of and how it runs was driving Sasha toward theoretical physics. After studying string theory and completing his PhD, he switched to more practical applications and worked in finance. He enjoys hikes in the mountains and meditation retreats.
Sergey Levin (Silver Medal, International Math Olympiad)
Sergey Levin came to Rhode Island from St. Petersburg, Russia, when he was 15. He was interested in soccer and mathematics from a very young age, but in the end mathematics prevailed. His biggest contest accomplishments are 6th place at the 1992 USA Math Olympiad, silver medal at the 1992 International Math Olympiad, and a Putnam Fellowship (awarded to the top 5 individual scorers in the prestigious William Lowell Putnam Competition) in 1995. After graduation from Harvard with a degree in Mathematics, Sergey entered the world of finance. Sergey has been teaching Math-M-Addicts since 2005 and is presently the co-Editor-in-Chief for the AIME contest.
Tanya Gross (BSE Princeton University, MS, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University)
Tanya Gross grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In middle school, thanks to the MathCounts competition, she discovered a love for math and also for explaining it to others. It was the one area of life in which she was not shy. Tanya went on to graduate from Princeton University and Stanford University with degrees in electrical engineering. She worked as a digital ASIC engineer in Silicon Valley for 5 years, then switched gears to work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before becoming a stay-at-home mother. She coached the TAG Young Scholars math team for 8 years. Tanya has been teaching at Math-M-Addicts since 2017.
Thomas Jameson (Math Faculty and Math Team Coach, Speyer School)
Tom Jameson grew up in Virginia, where he developed passionate interests in poetry and classical music. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in Comparative Literature. Tom became increasingly fascinated with math after he got his first job as a schoolteacher. He eventually began taking math courses at the Harvard University Extension School, where he is now completing a Master of Liberal Arts Degree in Mathematics for Teaching. He teaches math at The Speyer Legacy School, and coaches its math team.
Tricia Pacelli (PhD Mathematics)
Tricia holds a PhD from Boston University, specializing in Algebraic Number Theory. She worked for ten years in the Interest Rate Derivatives Technology group at Morgan Stanley. Recently she has been the Mathematics Specialist at Metropolitan Montessori School, where she taught enrichment groups for advanced math students and coached children for elementary and middle school math competitions. Tricia delights in teaching problem solving and working with kids who love mathematics.
Yijing Zhou (Master’s in Mathematics of Finance, Columbia University)
Yijing Zhou grew up in Shanghai, China. He started attending a Math Contest Group in 6th grade but didn't do well in contests. That didn't deter his interest in math, though. Things changed in the fall of his junior year in high school when he won First Prize in the China National Math Olympiad. In his senior year, he scored Top 10 in the Shanghai High School Contest. The valuable lesson he learned from his math training was to be persistent, creative, and to try different approaches. Yijing has a B.S. in Computer Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a master’s degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a master’s degree in Mathematics of Finance from Columbia University. Yijing first joined Math-M-Addicts in 2015.
Yirong Shen (M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University)
Yirong Shen came to the US at the age of 11 from Harbin, China. While attending middle school and high school in Austin, Texas, he became an enthusiastic math team participant and was a three-time USAMO qualifier. Yirong went on to study engineering at Stanford University and currently is working as a quantitative developer at the D.E.Shaw Group. He joined Math-M-Addicts in 2016.
Yulia Levin (AB in Economics, Harvard University; MBA, Stanford University)
Yulia first discovered her love of math problems as a kid in St. Petersburg, Russia. By the age of 14, Yulia moved to New York, where she attended Stuyvesant High School. As a co-captain of the Stuyvesant Math Team, Yulia had the privilege to participate in numerous math competitions and also taught math to younger math enthusiasts. Yulia rediscovered her love for teaching math when her kids became old enough to show both excitement and ability for mathematics. With her kids now enrolled in MMA, Yulia is excited to be part of the teaching team.
Yury Volvovskiy (First Prize, Russian Math Olympiad)
Yury grew up in Moscow, Russia. He enjoyed solving math puzzles since the age of 5 and in high school regularly competed in multiple math competition. His best achievement was the first prize at the Russian Math Olympiad in 1993. Yury went on to complete graduate studies in mathematics and then worked as a quantitative analyst. He is now a software engineer with Google and still enjoys math puzzles.