- Professor of Mathematics Education,
Dept. of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, College of Education at NC State University. - Special Assistant for Faculty Research and Development,
Office of the Provost & Office of Research and Innovation.
208B Poe Hall,
Raleigh, NC, 27965-7801
psztajn@ncsu.edu
Complete CV (Added March, 2019)
Dr. Paola Sztajn is a professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences and a special assistant for faculty research and development with the Office of the Provost and the university’s Office of Research and Innovation. She’s the former associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Education and the former head of the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences. She teaches mathematics methods courses for prospective and practicing teachers.
She is originally from Brazil and moved from Washington DC to Raleigh in 2008 after serving as a program officer at the National Science Foundation. Although she has a BS and an MS degree in Physics, once she was out of school she realized she was more interested in learning about kids’ experiences with elementary mathematics than electrons going through quantum barriers. So she started working with Ethnomathematics in 1987 and then working with professional development for mathematics teachers in 1989. Since then, she has been asking herself the same question: why do mathematics teachers do what they do, the way they do it, during mathematics lessons? This naïve question brought her to the US to pursue a PhD degree in Mathematics Education at Indiana University. Since her doctoral graduation she has worked and lived in Rio, Brazil, Athens, GA, Falls Church, VA and now Raleigh, NC. She is thankful that her husband (Rusty May), their son Joe and their daughter Clara have agreed to move to all these places with her!