Dr. Arthur T. Benjamin is Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, where he has taught since 1989. He earned a B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1983 and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1989.
Professor Benjamin's teaching has been honored repeatedly by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). In 2000, he received the MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo National Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. The MAA also named Professor Benjamin the 2006-2008 George Pólya Lecturer.
His research interests include combinatorics, game theory, and number theory, with a special fondness for Fibonacci numbers. He is also a professional magician, whose techniques are explained in his book Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks. He is coauthor of Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof, which received the Beckenbach Book Prize from the MAA. Professor Benjamin also served for five years as coeditor of Math Horizons magazine.
Professor Benjamin has appeared on dozens of television and radio programs and has been featured in publications, including Scientific American, People, and The New York Times. In 2005, Reader's Digest called him "America's Best Math Whiz."