John Mighton

Mighton in June 2010

John Mighton, OC (born October 2, 1957) is a Canadian mathematician, author, and playwright. He founded JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) Math, a charitable organization that works to educate students in mathematics, in 2001. Mighton was born in Hamilton, Ontario on (1957-10-02)October 2, 1957 and lives in Toronto, Ontario with partner Pamela Sinha and daughter Chloe.

Education

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 a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences and has taught mathematics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mighton also lectured in philosophy at McMaster University, where he received a Masters in philosophy.

Awards and Honors

• 10th Annual Egerton Ryerson Award for Dedication to Public Education (2016)
• Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2015)
• Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2014)
• Officer of the Order of Canada ^[1] (2010)
• Ashoka Fellow (2004)

Publications

• The Myth of Ability (2003)
• The End of Ignorance (2007)
• Scientific American Mind
• Medium
• Globe and Mail
• Notices of the AMS

As a playwright, Mighton has been the recipient of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama, the Dora Award, and the Chalmers Award. His plays include Possible Worlds, The Little Years, Body & Soul, Scientific Americans, A Short History of Night, and Half Life.

Mighton also advised Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck on the script for Good Will Hunting, and appeared as an actor in the film.

Filmography

• Good Will Hunting (1997): Tom - Lambeau's Teaching Assistant
• Hokees (Short Film)(2000):

References

External links

• John Mighton speaks at TEDx Cern
• John Mighton on IMDb
• JUMP website
• utoronto.academia.edu page
• Excerpt from The End of Ignorance