Note: The founder and former Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance is also named Paul Zeitz. However, this is not the same person.

Paul Zeitz (born 5 July 1958) is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of San Francisco

University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...

. He is the author of The Art and Craft of Problem Solving, and a co-author of Statistical Explorations with Excel.

Biography

In 1974 Paul Zeitz won the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and was a member of the first American team to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad

International Mathematical Olympiad

The International Mathematical Olympiad is an annual six-problem, 42-point mathematical olympiad for pre-collegiate students and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except in 1980...

 (IMO). The following year he graduated from Stuyvesant High School

Stuyvesant High School

Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...

.

He earned a Westinghouse scholarship and graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1981.

Since 1985, he has composed and edited problems for several national math contests, including the USAMO. He has helped train several American IMO teams, most notably the 1994 "Dream Team", the only team from any country to ever score a perfect 252 in the Olympiad.

Zeitz founded the Bay Area Math Meet in 1994 and co-founded the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad in 1999. In 1999 he wrote The Art and Craft of Problem Solving ISBN 0-471-13571-2, a popular book on problem solving

Problem solving

Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...

.

In 2003 Zeitz received from the MAA the prestigious Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for excellence in university teaching.