Virginia Warfield Receives Louise Hay Award from the AWM

In recognition of her long career of dedicated service to mathematics and mathematics education, the AWM is pleased to present the Seventeenth Annual Louise Hay Award to Virginia McShane Warfield of the University of Washington.

Virginia Warfield received her doctorate from Brown University in 1971 under the direction of Wendell Fleming and continued to contribute to the field of stochastic analysis for several years. At the same time she became increasingly absorbed by problems of mathematics education through her work with Project SEED, a highly regarded mathematics program whose goal was to promote sense-making mathematical activities for fourth through sixth grade students.

Her work with Project SEED led to her becoming the leader of the University of Washington Mathematics Department’s entry-level mathematics courses, which she restructured in ways that have stood the test of time and which she continues to oversee. Eventually, teacher preparation and enhancement, both of K–12 teachers and mathematics graduate students, became a major focus of her activity. She significantly revised the courses for future elementary teachers and has served as a mentor for graduate students throughout her years at the university.

From 1994 to 2001, she was project director for “Preparing Future Faculty” in which, among other things, she arranged for graduate students to spend time at local community or four-year colleges, took them to conferences on educational issues, and arranged conferences with guest speakers. She also began a series of “brown bag lunches” for faculty and graduate students to talk over issues related to their teaching, and since 1994 she has posted electronic newsletters based on those discussions. A letter written jointly by eight recent students states: “Her vision of education and her sense of optimistic possibility have encouraged us to reflect upon our development as teachers of mathematics and to seek ways in which we might contribute to a stronger, more effective mathematics education. Most important, though, is our recognition that Ginger has been instrumental in fostering a supportive and exciting environment in which to investigate and explore the many dimensions of mathematics education.”

In the broader community she was instrumental in creating Washington Teachers of Teachers of Mathematics (WAToToM), at which members of departments of mathematics and mathematics education from around the State get together for a week-end of conversation and idea-sharing. Vaughn Foster-Grahler of Evergreen State College wrote that “it has been her leadership that had kept [WAToToM] a vibrant and integral component of math education in Washington State. . . . Ginger is a tireless advocate for strengthening the level of preparation of K–12 math teachers and supporting the types of pedagogies that lead to success for all students.”

During the past ten years she has played a leading role in three major NSF-funded teacher enhancement projects: Creating a Community of Mathematics Learners, Extending the Community of Mathematics Learners, and Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12), all of which partner University of Washington faculty and graduate students with in-service teachers of mathematics. Warfield is described as a master in integrating various levels of math learners—creating relationships between grade school teachers and mathematicians—and as having special concern for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented groups. At one GK–12 elementary school the percentage of students who passed the state mathematics standard rose in two years from under 10% to about 55%, which is above the state average. Currently, she is Co-PI of a new project, Teaching for the Environment: Active Mathematics on the Olympic Peninsula. In discussing the impact of her work, Selim Tuncel, chair of the University of Washington Mathematics Department, praised “her commitment to improving mathematics education at all educational levels, her clear vision of the key elements for achieving this goal, her gentle persistence, and her ability to work effectively within a research department as well as in collaboration with the K–16 education communities.”

Warfield has also made significant contributions to mathematics education research through her collaboration with the French mathematician Guy Brousseau, a pioneer in the “didactics of mathematics,” the scientific study of issues in mathematics teaching and learning. This collaboration has led to publication of several articles, translation and co-editorship of a book, and, most recently, a monograph about Brousseau’s work and the nature of didactics.

Among her many professional activities, Warfield has been a member of the National Faculty (by election), of Sigma Xi, of the Association pour Recherche en Didactiques des Mathématiques, and of the Mathematical Association of America’s committees on Professional Development and Mathematical Education of Teachers. For the Association for Women in Mathematics she has served in several capacities: Chair of the Education Committee, Member of the Association Review Group for the revision of the NCTM Standards, Member-at-large of the Executive Committee, and Education Column Editor for the AWM Newsletter.

To describe her work, Janet P. Ray, professor emeritus from the Seattle Central Community College wrote: “It would be difficult to overstate the contributions Ginger has made to mathematics education. Whether through the organizations she has founded, the events she’s sponsored, or the connections she’s forged, Ginger’s work has had a huge impact. She has also made a difference in more subtle, though no less profound ways—through example and through innumerable small acts of kindness.”

AWM is proud to honor Virginia M. Warfield for her contributions to education through her teaching, graduate student training and mentoring, work on the didactics of mathematics, and outreach and collaborations with K–16 communities.

[Association for Women in Mathematics Hay Award Citation, reprinted with permission from the AWM Newsletter, Vol. 37, No. 2, March-April 2007, pp. 9-11.]