FACULTY

Alessandra Pantano
Director of UCI Math CEO | Middle School Program

Alessandra Pantano is a Professor of Teaching in the Mathematics Department at UC Irvine. Her research interests are in representation theory and in math education. She enjoys teaching and doing community outreach. She is also very committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in education.

Li-Sheng Tseng
Director of UCI Math CEO | High School Program
Li-Sheng Tseng is an Asscciate Professor in Mathematics at UC Irvine and does research in geometry/topology and physics.
Andres Forero
Academic Coordinator | Middle School Program
Andres Forero is a Academic Coordinator of Math CEO. He is a passionate and creative teacher and loves to use different resources to guide students to learning. His hometown is Bogota, Colombia. He obtained his PhD in UC Irvine in 2015. His research area is Inner Model Theory, a branch of Set Theory in which models of set are built in a very specific way.
Luke Smith
Academic Coordinator | High School Program
Luke Smith is a Lecturer of Mathematics at UC Irvine. He also earned his PhD at UC Irvine in 2015. Luke has done research in Number Theory and Algebra, but also enjoys probability, combinatorics, and any field of math with fun puzzles. To him, math is most fun when he can show students these fun puzzles for the first time. His other math hobbies involve drawing fractals, space transformations, and other generative art.
Sandi Simpkins
Director of Research | Middle School Program

Sandra Simpkins, Ph.D. in developmental psychology, is a Professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Education. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Prof. Simpkins is the Director for the UCI Center for Afterschool and Summer Excellence.

Kenny Ascher
Faculty Mentor | High School Program

Kenny Ascher is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at UC Irvine. He obtained his PhD from Brown University in 2017 and was a postdoc at MIT and Princeton University. His research interests are algebraic and arithmetic geometry.

Yizhe Zhu
Faculty Mentor | High School Program
Yizhe Zhu is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics at UC Irvine. He obtained his PhD from UC San Diego in 2021. His research interests are probability, combinatorics, and data science.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Daniel Morrison
Graduate Student Researcher | Middle School Program

Daniel Morrison is a 6th Year Graduate Student in the Math Department at UC Irvine researching cohomology of symplectic manifolds. They are also interested in math education and curriculum design as ways to spread interest in math and make inclusive and effective learning environments. 

Karl Zieber
Graduate Student Teaching Assistant | High School & Middle School program

 Karl Zieber acquired their BS and MS in Mathematics from Cal Poly SLO before becoming a PhD student at UCI. Their research interests include probability, graph theory, and dynamics, particularly symbolic dynamics. In addition to being passionate about encouraging underrepresented groups in math and STEM, Karl enjoys cooking, weightlifting, and reading.

Taylor Wycoff
Graduate Student Researcher | Middle School Program
Taylor M. Wycoff is a Ph.D. student in UC Irvine’s School of Education specializing in Human Development in Context. Prior to joining UCI, Taylor received her M.S. from the University of Utah’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism where her research focused on access to developmentally enriching summer camp programs. Her experience working as a teaching artist in San Diego area schools and afterschool programs, as well as working as a research and evaluation specialist for the American Camp Association, inform her interest in increasing access to and inclusion in out-of-school-time (OST) learning opportunities for historically marginalized youth. More specifically, through her research, Taylor hopes to investigate the effects of culturally responsive practices in OST programs on the development of youth from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Weihan Shao
Graduate Student Mentor | High School Program
Weihan Shao obtained his mathematics bachelor degree in University of California, Irvine in 2023. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in mathematics from Rutgers University. Weihan has done research in Topological Data Analysis, and currently has interest in Graph Theory, Partial Differential Equations, Geometry, and Topology.
Guadalupe Rosas
Graduate Student Researcher | Middle School Program
Lupe is a second year doctoral student in the School of Education at UCI. Her prior experiences working with youth as a college adviser inform her interests in researching how adolescents’ motivation and STEM identity are influenced by family and other social agents. She is a first generation college grad and alumna of UCSC.

SPECIAL ADVISORS

Amylene Cabrera
Special Advisor in Planning, Teaching, and Mentoring | High School Program

Amylene (Amy) Cabrera is a Mathematics teacher at Fallbrook High School in San Diego. She got her Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and a Secondary Teaching Credential with the UCI Calteach program. She worked with Math CEO as a mentor and a room leader from 2017-2019. She also is former president of the UCI Swing club and loves to swing dance.

Shavonne Donoghue
Special Adviser in Teaching and Mentoring | High School Program

Shavonne Donoghue is a Math Teacher at Fallbrook High School, in North County San Diego. She received her Bachelors of Science in Applied Mathematics with an emphasis in Education from UC Riverside. She loves to share the beauty of math with her students.

Randie Levine-Williams
Special Adviser in Planning, Teaching, and Mentoring | Middle School Program

Randie Levine-Williams is a retired math teacher. She received her BA in Mathematics from UCLA and her MA in Education from University of Redlands. She also spent twelve years in computer sales and marketing. Her goal as a teacher has always been to create a fun, cooperative-learning environment utilizing hands-on activities.

Vien Nguyen
Special Adviser in Planning, Teaching, and Mentoring | Middle School Program

Viên Nguyen most recently worked in Technology at Morgan Stanley and previously taught at MIT and Columbia. She received her AB in Applied Math from Harvard and PhD in Operations Research from Stanford. Viên takes great joy in working with students and sharing their sense of discovery as they progress along their mathematical journeys.

TEACHER PARTNERS

Fernando Gutierrez
Teacher Liaison | Lathrop Intermediate

Fernando Gutierrez is a Math teacher at Lathrop Intermediate. He was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and attended SAUSD as a student and graduated from Saddleback High School in 2000. He majored in Mathematics at UCR has been teaching for 15 years and loves it!!!

Edward Buenostro
Teacher Liaison | Carr Intermediate

Edward is a teacher and helps with UCI CEO Math Club at Carr Intermediate School in Santa Ana. He has been teaching math in Santa Ana for ten years. He holds his bachelor’s degree in Math Education from CSULB and master’s degree in Math Education from CSUF.

Ruth Karr
Teacher Liaison | Villa Fundamental Intermediate
Ruth Karr is a UCLA, USC, and UCI alumna. She has been a K-12 teacher for 17 years, whilst also being a coordinator of Math CEO for 5 years, coaching for the math pentathlon competition for 12 years, directing the pentathlon for 10, and residing on the AVID site counsel for 5 years. Her tenure as an educator also includes teaching accounting for 8 years in the University of Hawaii System. Her teaching ability is built on her 20 years of experience in the accounting industry, as well as being a liaison between accounting and IT departments for various businesses

UNDERGRAD LEARNING ASSISTANTS

Aimy Do
Undergraduate Learning Assistant | Middle School Program

Aimy is a third year student at UC Irvine majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting. In her free time, she loves exploring the nature around us by going out on runs or walks and also finding new food spots around OC.

Alyssa Reyes
Undergraduate Learning Assistant | Middle School Program

Alyssa is a second year Education Sciences and English double major who hopes to become a teacher in the future. As an avid reader and writer, Alyssa can often be found reading books and writing poetry! When she’s not doing that, Alyssa loves hiking and traveling to new places.

Bryan Patino
Undergraduate Learning Assistant | Middle School Program

Bryan is a second year education sciences major at UCI. He has worked with Math CEO as a mentor and learning assistant since 2022. He is interested in pursuing teaching and hopes to become a college professor in the near future.

Zachary Simon

Zach is a second year student at UC Irvine majoring in Mathematics with a concentration in Mathematical Finance. He has always had a passion for teaching and loves mathematics as a whole.

Angie Coyote

Angie is a second-year Education major with a minor in Bilingual Education. She loves working with others and making friendships along the way. She loves Disney and her favorite movie is Tangled.

Sierra Riedel
Undergraduate Learning Assistant | Middle School Program
Sierra is a second-year student at UCI majoring in Education Sciences. She has been involved in the Math CEO program since 2022, and has enjoyed building relationships that positively impact her students. She has a passion for helping people and plans to become a teacher in the future.
Alexandra Peñuelas
Alexandra Peñuelas 3rd year social ecology major. I hope to make a difference in the lives of middle schoolers! I enjoy helping my community and what better way than my helping middle schoolers with math my favorite subject through K-12.
Mercedes Barriga
Undergraduate Learning Assistant | Middle School Program

PREVIOUS COLLABORATORS

Jasmina Matasovich
Special Advisor in Planning | Middle School Program

Jasmina Matasovic is a Math Teacher at MacArthur Intermediate. She was part of the Math CEO leadership team from Fall 2014 to Spring 2023. Prior to moving to MacArthur Intermediate, she was Teacher Liaison and Coordinator of the UCI STEMath Club at Carr Intermediate. She holds a graduate degree from UCLA and Teaching Credentials from UCI.

Jinseok Sung
Special Advisor in Teaching and Mentoring | Middle School Program

Jinseok Sung graduated from UC Irvine in 2020 with his BA in Education Sciences. He is now a Mathematics Teacher at Rise Kohyang Middle School. In his free time, he likes to cook and bake, and he also loves to watch dog and cat videos.

Shoo Seto
Academic Coordinator | High School Program

Shoo Seto is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at California State University, Fullerton. He obtained his PhD in Mathematics at UC Irvine in 2015. His research interests lie in differential geometry and geometric analysis. He is also the Co-Coordinator of the Fullerton Math Circle.

Shelly Fox
Special Adviser in Teaching and Mentoring | High School program
In Memoriam. Shelley Fox taught Integrated Math 1 and was a part of Math CEO in 2020-2022. She was passionate about connecting math to the world outside of school. Outside of school she loved to ride e-bikes with friends, read at the beach, cook international foods, and learn to code in Python.