Dr. Oleg Gleizer has been selected as the new director of the UCLA Olga Radko Endowed Math Circle (ORMC) following a nationwide search. Oleg received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 2001 at Northeastern University, specializing in representation theory and special functions. Joining ORMC in 2011, Oleg has been an integral part of the program serving as chief curriculum developer and lead instructor. He is well-known to many in the ORMC community for his unwavering enthusiasm for teaching beautiful mathematics and for his commitment to the success of his students. In 2015, Oleg co-authored an innovative curriculum for kindergarten and 1st grade, Breaking Numbers into Parts, with the ORMC’s late founding director, Dr. Olga Radko. The book was featured in the Washington Post, and a second edition, split into two parts, was published in 2018 – both are available on Amazon.com.

Oleg will officially begin his new role on July 1, 2021. When asked about his plans, he responded, “I see my mission as that of continuing Olga’s legacy. She built the Circle to be one of the few very best in the world. I intend to keep it this way.”

The UCLA Olga Radko Endowed Math Circle, or ORMC (formerly the Los Angeles Math Circle) is a free Sunday math school for grades K-12 run by UCLA Department of Mathematics. It is a top-tier math circle attracting elementary, middle and high school students interested in mathematics and eager to learn. ORMC was recently renamed after long-term supporter Sierra Chen established a substantial endowment honoring the program’s late founding director, Olga Radko.