Stanley J. Bezuszka, S.J. Biography

The nature of the award honoring Stanley J. Bezuszka, S.J. acknowledges his abiding interest in and his efforts to promote the history of mathematics as a powerful teaching tool.

Stanley J. Bezuszka, S.J., had a long and distinguished career in mathematics education. A native of Poland, he arrived in the United States at an early age and received his primary and secondary education in Lowell, Massachusetts. After entering the Jesuit order, he continued his academic pursuits at Weston College, Boston College, and Brown University.

Father Bezuszka contributed to mathematics education by teaching at the university level and was a frequent visitor to classrooms that ran the gamut from kindergarten to grade 12. He gave more than 1000 presentations, workshops, and minicourses in mathematics education, both at the national and international level. His presentations displayed deep insight about content and the teaching and learning of mathematics and were invariably punctuated with humorous stories and anecdotes, pertaining to teachers, students, and their environment. Over the course of his professional life he published over 100 works, including textbooks, monographs, articles, and research papers.

Father Bezuszka is honored for his outstanding service to mathematics education through several awards, including the 1995 MET Lifetime Achievement Award for Teaching and the 1990 NCSM Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award in Mathematics Education, and he was also inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Mathematics Educators as a founding member. In November 2008, the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in New England instituted an annual award entitled: The Rev. Stanley J. Bezuszka, S.J. Lifetime Service Award for Mathematics Teaching and Learning.  Father Bezuszka was the first recipient of this award.

Father Stanley Bezuszka died on December 27, 2008, less than one month before his 95th birthday.