Elaine Kasimatis facts for kids

Elaine Ann Kasimatis was an American mathematician. She was a professor who taught math at California State University, Sacramento. She was an expert in two main areas: discrete geometry and how to teach mathematics.

Discrete geometry is a branch of math that studies shapes and patterns. These shapes are often made of separate, distinct points or objects. Mathematics education means she also focused on the best ways to teach math to students.

Her Education and Teaching Career

Elaine Kasimatis studied at the University of California, Davis. She earned her first degree in mathematics in 1976. Later, in 1979, she received a master's degree in mathematics education. This degree focused on teaching math.

She went back to Davis for more studies in pure mathematics. She earned another master's degree in 1983. In 1986, she completed her Ph.D., which is the highest university degree. Her Ph.D. paper was about cutting regular shapes into triangles of equal sizes. Her professor, Sherman K. Stein, guided her research.

After finishing her studies, she joined the faculty at California State University, Sacramento. She started teaching there in 1986.

What She Contributed to Math

Kasimatis was well-known for her work on something called equidissection. This is about dividing shapes, like polygons, into smaller triangles. All these smaller triangles must have the same area.

With her professor, Sherman K. Stein, she was one of the first to study how to equidissect regular pentagons. A pentagon is a shape with five sides. They also came up with the idea of the "equidissection spectrum" for a polygon. This helps describe how a shape can be divided.

She also wrote an algebra textbook. It was called Making Sense of Elementary Algebra: Data, Equations, and Graphs. She wrote this book with Cindy L. Erickson in 1999.

Awards and Recognition

In 2021, Elaine Kasimatis won a special award. It was the Deborah and Franklin Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. This award is given by the Mathematical Association of America.

The award recognized her important work in math education. She helped create the first program in California that combined math content with teacher training. She also guided many student teachers.

Elaine Kasimatis developed two important math programs. One was the "Access to Algebra" program for middle school students. The other was the "College Preparatory Mathematics" program. Both of these programs are used across the country. She also volunteered her time to help develop math education in Rwanda.