A North County math teacher has been honored by the White House with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Brian Shay, who serves as chair of the Mathematics Department at Canyon Crest Academy in the San Dieguito Union High School District, has taught high school- and college-level math – typically Integrated Math 2, Calculus, Statistics, and Linear Algebra – since 2000.
Shay is also an adjunct professor at San Diego Mesa College and UC San Diego. In 2012, he served as an Academic Content Standards Commissioner and on the Mathematics Framework Committee for the California Department of Education. He is a member of the California Mathematics Council and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
In the past, he has been a mentor to emerging math teachers through Math for America – San Diego, and served as a reader for the AP Calculus Exam and a reviewer for the SAT Reasoning Test and Mathematics Subject Test.
Shay earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from State University of New York, Postdam, and a master’s in teaching mathematics from UC Davis.
Among his accolades are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Inspirational Teacher Award, which he received in 2014, and an award for Distinguished Mathematics Teaching from the Mathematical Association of America, which he received two years later.
The PAEMST program is administered by the National Science Foundation on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Presidential Award recipients are honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., and receive a $10,000 special award from the NSF.
Awards are given to teachers who teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Department of Defense schools, and four U.S. territories, which are recognized as a group.
— City News Service contributed to this report.