Two Weeks of Creative, Collaborative Math

Doug O'Roark

Doug spent the last decade leading the Math Circles of Chicago, which has grown to be the largest math enrichment program in the US. Previously Doug led the NSF-sponsored AIM-TRU research project at DePaul, which worked to improve math teaching across CPS. He also founded and led the secondary math component of the UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program and was the 1st teacher hired at Payton HS. He was awarded the Radio Shack National Teacher Award, the MAA’s Sliffe Award for Distinguished Math Teaching, the ICTM Rine Secondary Math Teaching Award, and the Museum of Math's 2020 Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching. The City of Chicago Math League and Payton Prep have awards named in his honor. He lives in the South Loop neighborhood with his wife, a researcher at UIC; both of their children are graduates of CPS. ‍

Graham Rosby

Graham loves a good math problem. He's had the good fortune of learning and solving many as a volunteer with Math Circles of Chicago since 2011, and as a student at the University of Chicago (AB '11) and Harvard's Graduate School of Education (MA '18). He grew up in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago, and now lives in Bucktown with his wife, a veteran CPS teacher, and son. He also enjoys long distance running, crossword puzzles, and quiz shows.

Jessica Young-Eleazar

Jessica is a middle school educator and doctoral student passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. She holds Illinois teaching endorsements in Math, Language Arts, and Music, and is pursuing her EdD at Loyola University Chicago. As a Filipino-Chinese American, Jessica works to design learning experiences that reflect students’ identities and empower them as social justice advocates. You can usually find her at DivaDance Chicago, trying new restaurants, or hanging out with her partner and their hedgehog, Iggy.

Lauren Sawyer

Lauren is a Middle School Math Lead Teacher + Advisor for a school in West Town. She's an educator of 10 years. She taught as a 3rd - 5th contained classroom teacher and specialized in 3rd - 8th math and science. Outside the classroom she's written math and science curriculum, coached teachers in math, and managed the education program for a city park in Saint Louis. Lauren and her family live on the UChi campus and love to play board games with any free time they have.

Steve McIlrath

Steve lives in the Austin neighborhood with his wife and three children. He's taught at Austin College and Career High School for more than 30 years. Over the last decade he's worked with colleagues on Chicago's west side to build Project Exigent into an intensive summer math program serving middle schoolers and high schoolers. Exigent and Math Circles of Chicago became partners in the winter of 2025.