Charlene Morrow

Codirector, SummerMath
Lecturer in Psychology and Education

Specialization: Women in mathematics; pedagogy; use of origami in mathematical inquiries

Charlene Morrow has dedicated herself to changing the structure of mathematics education and to improving the pathways into mathematics for girls and women. She has codirected MHC's SummerMath program with husband and fellow MHC lecturer in mathematics, James Morrow, for more than 15 years. SummerMath is designed to help high school women develop a conceptual understanding of mathematics and increase their confidence. The Morrows have also designed and initiated a program for teaching mathematics in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

The Morrows have recently developed a new mathematics program, SEARCH, for high school women who have a strong preparation in mathematics. This summer program will allow students to engage in research activities and gain awareness of the career life of a mathematician.

In 1999, Charlene Morrow won a Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education Grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant was used to develop enrichment materials for high school and college students. This funding also gave Morrow time and resources to take six undergraduate mathematics courses to pursue formal training in that discipline.

Morrow's mathematics professors and classmates have encouraged her to explore the field further, resulting in a recent paper title, Using Graphs to Color Origami Polyhedra. Morrow is currently exploring how origami can be used to study geometry.

A licensed clinical psychologist, Morrow is affiliated with the American Psychological Association, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and Women and Mathematics Education (WME). She served for more than ten years as executive director of WME and as president for several years.

Morrow is a scholar-in-residence at the Atlanta Girls' School, where she teaches a course on origami and mathematics during their winter intersession. She publishes extensively and widely on women in mathematics and is the editor of Notable Women in Mathematics. She is a frequent speaker at conferences all over the country.

"Math Quest: Charlene Morrow Returns to the Classroom," College Street Journal, November 17, 2000