Paul J. Karafiol, Board Chair

Paul has been committed to developing talent in young people since his first summer job as a counselor in the UChicago Young Scholars Program. He’s taught math at Phillips Academy, Providence-St. Mel School, and Payton College Prep. Currently, he serves as the principal of Lake View High School. Outside of school, Paul coached the Chicago-Area All-Star Math Team and is the head author of the American Regions Math League Competition. Awards Paul has received include the ICTM Flener Award, the MAA’s Edith May Slyffe Award, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. He lives in Hyde Park with his wife, three children (two of whom attend CPS schools), and two dogs.

Gary Jones, Treasurer

Gary Jones is President of Jones Partners, Ltd., an independent consulting firm in the electric power industry. He is a retired Senior Vice President and Owner of Sargent & Lundy, LLC, an international consulting engineering firm in the electric power industry, and served as a Senior Safety Engineer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria. He founded the Chicagoland Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and has served on several boards of directors for non-profit organizations in the Chicago area, including EWB-Chicago, SALUTE, Inc. (which aids veterans and their families), and the Chicago Chapter of the American Nuclear Society. He also served on the Agassiz Local School Council.

He enjoys riding bicycles and geometry, and has a new interest in algorithms.

Sendhil Revuluri, Secretary, Founding Member

Sendhil Revuluri works to improve opportunity for children in high-need schools. He currently serves as the Vice-President of the CPS Board of Education. He previously traded equity derivatives and helped launch a new public high school in the South Bronx (where he was recognized as a Math for America Master Teacher). He chairs the project committee of the Bright Promises Foundation, was recently elected Vice President of the IMSA Alumni Association and to the Board of the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. His family lives in Pilsen, where his wife is an executive at a non-profit working to improve the lives and opportunities of people living in poverty, and his son is a kindergartener at a CPS elementary school.

Janice Jackson

Dr. Janice Jackson is a Senior Fellow whose work at Carnegie focuses on equity issues, such as improving high school and college attainment nationwide and ensuring that African American, Latinx, and Indigenous students receive exemplary education and social and emotional support. She is the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Jackson’s tenure at CPS—the nation’s 3rd largest school district with more than 355,000 students, 38,000 employees, and an annual budget of $7 billion—is most notable for the results the district attained in advancing equitable outcomes for its students. Recently, Jackson was named CEO of HOPE Chicago, a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce economic and social inequity by funding post-secondary scholarships and non-tuition costs for Chicago Public School graduates and adult family members.

Amie Wilkinson

Dr. Amie Wilkinson is a mathematician specializing in the field of dynamical systems. She is a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, and previously worked as a professor at Northwestern. Amie has taught classes in the previous incarnation of the Math Circles of Chicago, the Payton Math Citywide Math Circle, and is avidly interested in mathematical outreach. She has been the recipient of several honors for her mathematical research and exposition, including the Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize, the Levi Conant Prize, and has given talks at the International Congress of Mathematicians. She is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Amie lives in Lincoln Park with her husband, Benson Farb; their two children attended Chicago Public Schools.

Archana Rana

Archana Rana is mom to two CPS kids and is passionate about making education accessible to all children. Professionally, she works at Mars Incorporated, leading their HR Operations Strategy team. Having spent half her life in India and the United States, she considers herself a global citizen. In her free time, she enjoys cooking foods from around the world. Archana lives in Little Italy with her husband and two children.

Troy Boccelli

Troy Boccelli is a CPS alumnus and lifelong Chicagoan. He became involved with Math Circles through his younger brother, a former Math Circles participant. He works for a real estate developer and asset manager. Troy grew up in Little Village and currently lives on the Near West Side.

Lawrence Tanzman

Lawrence Tanzman is a CPS alumnus and a prior student of two of the founding members of the Math Circles of Chicago. Lawrence works for a financial company in Chicago trading equity derivatives. Lawrence has taught a Math Circle session on mathematics in finance and hosts a Guesstimathon every year at the QED Math Symposium.

Benitta Jones

Benitta Jones is a STEM specialist for a Chicago public school in the Little Village community. She is passionate about ensuring that students have access to STEM careers. Before transitioning into this role, Benitta served as a high school mathematics instructor for 15 years. Benitta is a Chicago native, CPS alum, and she currently resides in the North Kenwood community with her husband and daughter.

Gail Ward

Gail was the founding principal at Walter Payton College Prep, one of the city’s most accomplished selective enrollment high schools. After leaving Payton, Gail was named Chief Officer of the CPS Office of Principal Preparation and Development. Gail was appointed to Chicago Board of Education June 2015 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Retired since 2008, Gail is currently a trustee on the

Chicago History Museum; on the Board of Golden Apple Foundation; on the Math

Circles Board of Chicago; and the Advisory Board of SESP at Northwestern University; and the

Advisory Board of Bennett Day School in Chicago. Gail is a frequent traveler and has visited schools in Africa, China, India, Europe, and the Middle East.