Matthew R. Boelkins

Matt Boelkins is Professor of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1998. He earned his PhD from Syracuse University, MS from Western Washington University, and BS from Geneva College.

A passionate teacher and proponent of active learning, Professor Boelkins has been recognized with several teaching-related honors, including the 2013 Michigan MAA Distinguished Teaching Award and the 2016 Michigan Association of State Universities’ Distinguished Professor of the Year. Throughout his career, he has been an avid practitioner of the scholarship of teaching and learning of mathematics and has worked to promote its practice through scholarly papers, conference presentations, and the journal PRIMUS (Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies), which he serves as co-Editor-in-Chief.

Boelkins has co-authored several research papers with undergraduate students on problems in the geometry of polynomials. He is also the co-author of three textbooks, including the free, open-source Active Calculus (single variable) available at https://activecalculus.org. Active Calculus promotes an active learning approach to calculus through a sequence of student-driven activities, rather than via worked examples. In addition, the HTML version is easy to read on a smartphone and includes live WeBWorK exercises that offer immediate feedback to students on their progress.

Since his first year at Grand Valley, Boelkins has been an active member of the Mathematical Association of America. Prior to his service as the Association’s first vice president in 2016 and chair of the congress in 2017, he was Governor of the Michigan Section, Vice-Chair - Chair - Past Chair of the Michigan Section, and co-organizer of the Michigan Project NExT Symposium. He was also ’99-00 Project NExT Fellow and remains connected to Project NExT as a consultant and invited speaker.