MAA  Mathematical Association of America

Seaway Section

Ryan Gantner's professional history is straightforward. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin in 2000, followed by MS and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota in 2006. He was hired at St. John Fisher College, as it was known then, as he completed his PhD work and has been there ever since. His history with mathematics is slightly more complicated, however. In graduate school, he worked on probability problems, specifically with discrete time probabilistic cellular automata. But after beginning his work at Fisher, his research work quickly became "whatever the students want to work on." Eventually, he lost focus and found himself seeking a deeper expertise in something, so he turned to combinatorial games. This proved to be somewhat at the intersection of "I can do this" and "the students are interested". Lately, however, students are becoming fewer and farther between, and they are interested in problems which are more obviously applicable. So, he is in the process of going through another metamorphosis. We're not sure where this one will land. Through all of this, he has maintained a focus on teaching, building strong relationships with students through teaching, and learning about teaching through others (especially the MAA Seaway Section). He has been involved in the Seaway Section on many levels since around 2009 and is now a member of the MAA's Committee on Faculty and Departments. Even so, he tries to eschew work in favor of family time as much as is reasonable and prefers hiking or biking to the office.