John Mighton

“John Mighton may well become the nation's math conscience. He not only knows that all children can master genuine mathematics but has repeatedly proved so with his brilliant, no-nonsense tutoring program.”

– Andrew Nikiforuk, Education Writer and award-winning author, commenting on JUMP founder John Mighton

John Mighton is a mathematician, author, playwright, and the founder of JUMP Math. He tirelessly volunteers his time and expertise at JUMP as the lead curriculum developer for the JUMP Math Student Workbooks and Teacher's Manuals.  He also donates all proceeds from publications and speaking engagements to JUMP.

Dr. Mighton completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Toronto and was awarded an NSERC fellowship for postdoctoral research in knot and graph theory. He is currently a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Mathematical Research and an Adjunct Professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mighton also lectured in philosophy at McMaster University, where he received a Masters in philosophy.

John almost failed first-year Calculus in university, but his love of math and his belief that everyone has great mathematical potential led him to found JUMP as a kitchen-table tutoring group in 1998. His national best-selling book, The Myth of Ability: Nurturing Mathematical Talent in Every Child, describes his successes with JUMP, and how anyone can learn and teach math. In May of 2007 John released a follow-up book to The Myth of Ability called The End of Ignorance.

John is also a playwright: his plays have been performed across Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United States. He has won several national awards including the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, the Dora Award, the Chalmers Award and the Siminovitch Prize. His play Possible Worlds was made into a full-length feature film directed by Robert Lepage. John is currently adapting Brian Greene's book, The Elegant Universe, for a production with Robert Lepage.

As a mathematician and a playwright, John believes that there are more connections between the arts and the sciences than people generally think, and that scientists and mathematicians are often led by a sense of beauty or elegance, and describe their work in artistic terms. He has made the statement, "If the two worlds communicated more, we'd have much richer art and science as a result."

John regularly lectures to pre-service teachers both at York University and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He has given over 50 invited talks and training sessions for parents and educators, and has given keynote addresses on math education at two First Nations Education Conferences (BC), the PMET Conference (Professors of Mathematics Educating Teachers) (NY), the Neurenberg Lectures (at UWO), Changing the Culture (at SFU), and The Digital Performance Symposium (at UWO).

In 2004, John Mighton was granted a prestigious Ashoka Fellowship as a social entrepreneur for his work in fostering numeracy and building young children's self-confidence through JUMP Math. Most recently John was the recipient of an honorary doctorate in recognition of his lifetime achievements.