Ron Lancaster : Professional Bio

Associate Professor, Teaching Stream
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of The University of Toronto

Full Professional Bio:

Ron is an Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) at the University of Toronto where he teaches mathematics courses for pre-service middle and high school teachers.  He has over 20 years of experience teaching grades 7-12 mathematics.

Ron’s professional activities in North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and India include consultations for public, independent and international schools that include the Heritage School (Delhi, India); Jakarta Intercultural School (Jakarta, Indonesia); Taipei American School (Taipei, Taiwan); Ghana International School (Accra, Ghana); the American Community School (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) and the American School of Dubai (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).

Ron has been a presenter at hundreds of conferences, including 57 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual and Regional Conferences; 36 consecutive Ontario Association for Mathematics Education Annual Conferences; 8 East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools Conferences and 3 National Conferences on Graphing Calculators in Malaysia.  Ron has facilitated almost 100 week-long courses for mathematics teachers at 30 consecutive Phillips Exeter Academy Mathematics and Technology Conferences; Mathematical Sciences Institutes in New Orleans; STEM Educators’ Camps at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and the Peddie School Mathematics & Technology Conferences for Middle School Teachers.

Ron has been a teacher-in-residence and has presented symposiums for students at the Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, New Jersey), Upper Canada College (Toronto, Ontario), the Trinity School (New York, New York), the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (Durham, North Carolina), the Catlin Gabel School (Portland, Oregon) and the Nueva School (Hillsborough, California).  In 2018 Ron was a Program Leader for Harkness Travel in Greece: Mathematical & Cultural Explorations, an international field trip for students from the Lawrenceville School.

Ron has frequently been a featured speaker for students at the South East Asian Mathematics Competition and the North East Asian Mathematics Competition.

Ron has authored/edited over 150 articles for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (Media Clips, The Mathematical Lens) and almost 50 articles for the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education (Mathematics & the World Around Us, Photo Math, Mathematical Snapshots).  Ron wrote a series of contests that were published in several newspapers owned by Singapore Press Holdings.  Ron was a writer and team leader for mathematical activities that were published by Words and Numbers for the prime time series NUMB3RS.

Ron is member of the Advisory Board for the Museum of Mathematics in New York City.

Ron has been a National Instructor for Texas Instruments since 1994 and has conducted week-long and day-long workshops throughout the United States and Canada on graphing calculators, motion detectors and scientific probes.

Ron sees mathematics everywhere and never leaves home without his pair of math glasses and camera so that he is always ready to snap photos of numbers, patterns, shapes, solids, curves and shadows.  Throughout his career Ron has made connections between the mathematics curriculum and daily life in an effort to help students appreciate and enjoy mathematics.

Ron is well known for his expertise in designing Math Trails.  Ron has created these math paths in many locations around the world, including Singapore, where over 7000 students and hundreds of teachers have enjoyed his walks in Suntec City, Fort Canning Park and the NUS Art Museum.  Ron has developed Math Trails for Math for America, the Avenues School and the Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Natural History, Ellis Island, the Bronx Zoo, Madison Square Park, the campuses of New York & Columbia Universities and the High Line.

Near the start of his teaching career, Ron worked with the Ideal Toy Company to organize Rubik’s Cube Contests across Canada; he was a Co-Judge with Erno Rubik at the 1982 Canadian National Rubik’s Cube Contest and he was a consultant for several television commercials that made use of a Rubik’s Cube.

From 1987 to 1992, Ron was an on-air teacher, writer and consultant for three television series produced by TVOntario.  The shows were purchased by organizations throughout the world and one of them was awarded a Gold Medal at the 1990 International Film and TV Festival of New York.

Ron has received a number of teaching awards for innovative teaching, including three National/Provincial Hilroy Fellowship Awards (1983, 1989 & 1997).  In 2007 he received the University of Toronto Award for Excellence in Initial Teacher Education.  He was the recipient of the 2015 Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award Recognizing Innovation and Excellence in Mathematics Education awarded by the Fields Institute.