Stephen Krulik has not only been a driving force at Temple University, where he taught for more than 40 years, but he has shared his passion and knowledge for mathematics through numerous presentations and publications spanning five decades.
Krulik began his career as a teacher in the New York Public Schools in 1954. After 15 years, he moved to Temple University, where he taught until 2006, when he retired as professor emeritus of mathematics education.
While at Temple University, Krulik helped build a strong doctoral program in mathematics education and advised hundreds of doctoral students. As one nominator wrote, "He was always enthusiastic to work with doctoral students and help them craft interesting studies that addressed gaps in mathematics literature.… He helped his students understand that they were contributing to a field of important work."
At Temple, Krulik was named Outstanding Professor of the College of Education and honored with the Lindback Award for Excellence in Teaching and Temple University's Great Teacher Award. The Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey also gave Krulik the Max Sobel Outstanding Mathematics Educators Award.
Krulik's focus was problem solving and reasoning. Another nominator wrote, "His teaching provided opportunities for us to experience how it felt to learn to be a problem solver…. The way I thought about mathematics and my teaching of mathematics changed dramatically when I became a problem solver."
Over his prolific 55-year career, Krulik gave more than 350 presentations at conferences, including 100 NCTM conferences; authored or coauthored 30 books; and published more than 30 journal articles. He served as the 1980 Yearbook Editor,
Problem Solving in School Mathematics;
was a member of the working group of the NCTM Commission on
Teaching Standards for School Mathematics;
chaired the committee that designed and produced
Student Math Notes
(now
Student Explorations in Mathematics)
; and served as program co-chair for numerous NCTM regional conferences.
Krulik's memberships outside of NCTM include the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Association of Teachers of Mathematics of Philadelphia and Vicinity, and the Association of Teachers of Mathematics of New York City. He is also a member of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey, where he served as president.