Lynda Wiest, professor of mathematics education and educational equity at the University of Nevada, Reno, received the Louise Hay Award for Mentoring from the Association for Women in Mathematics.
Dr. Wiest has been the director of a week-long math camp that has helped many young girls discover their passion for mathematics since 1998. “I’m there the entire week and I’m popping in and out of the rooms all day long and participating in some of the evening recreation,” Professor Wiest said. “I get to see the light bulbs going off, see them learning, see them coming out of their shell and learning to talk in the classroom and the safe setting that we create, and they’re not afraid to engage with math and to talk about it.”
Dr. Wiest worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for more than a decade before joining the faculty at the University of Nevada Reno in 1996. She was promoted to associate professor in 2001 and to full professor in 2009.
Professor Wiest holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. She earned a Ph.D. at Indiana University in Bloomington.