The director, Mr. Arthur L. Kalish, has spent the last 58 years in the field of education. Most of that time has been spent in the classroom teaching mathematics to students of every ability level. In addition to teaching middle and high school students, he has been actively involved in teaching teachers as an adjunct instructor for the College of New Rochelle and for Brooklyn College. He has taught for many years in both the Problem Solving Institute and the Leadership Training Institute.
Mr. Kalish has presented at many of the local, regional, and State-wide conferences. His talks always integrate technology with mathematics and range over grade levels 3 through 12.
The awards presented to Mr. Kalish include the Goudreau Award for Excellence in Teaching, Tandy Technology Scholar Award, Nassau County High School Teacher of the Year, the George Lenchner Distinguished Service Award, the Congressional Youth Leadership Council Award, the University of Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award, and the Harvard Club Distinguished Teacher of the Year.
In addition to Mr. Kalish’s responsibility with the Institute of MERIT, he works for MOEMS (Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools) as Chief of the Problem Writing Committee. Mr. Kalish edits contests for the Nassau County Interscholastic Mathletes League. For 10 years, he wrote and edited the Calendar questions/solutions for NCTM’s Mathematics Teacher. He is a member of the Working Group and the Board of Advisors for MoMath, the National Museum of Mathematics located in Manhattan.