aka Prof. Mathewmatician
Matthew Yip is doing the impossible – he is on a quest to make Math simple, engaging, and fun. Nicknamed Prof. Mathewmatician, he is an award-winning Global Math Educator. “I have a passion to improve the current situation of math education, and enhance the mathematical abilities of learners in an efficient way,” he begins.
Based in Hong Kong, Matthew did not come from a wealthy family. His dad is a bus driver, and his mum a housewife. When he was young, he didn’t have his own bedroom. To change this, he began studying hard. “After experiencing success, my mind changed. I now realize that there is a mission in my life other than earning money and buying a bigger house.”
His mission and strengths led him to find his passion, which is mathematics and math education. In the early years of his profession, he taught mathematics to different grades, from kindergarten to master’s degree. Today, he is a Senior Trainer in Mathematics Olympiad, President of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, International (Macau) Institute of Academic Research,
Author of 12 books, and a Columnist.
Matthew loved math since his teens. He enjoyed the process of deciphering different math problems and teaching his classmates to solve difficult equations. His father gave him ‘Matthew’ as his English name when he was born, and he believes that his life’s mission is to be a mathematics educator, not merely a mathematician.
“There is space for many improvements in math education, and I hope to lead this change. In my profession, my biggest challenge is to be a great educator. Before that, I have to be well known to be able to promote my solutions. Therefore, I constantly equip myself to meet opportunities when they come.”
Matthew’s desire is to be recognized as the greatest mathematics educator. “I’m a frugal guy, so I devote less time to earn money and more to achieve my career goals.” He lists his 3 step revolutionary approach:
- First, setting up the ‘Global Mathematics and Mathematics Olympiad Assessment Test’ in order to assess all students fairly and without age restrictions.
- Second, developing an automatic math learning system – Mathewmatician’s Dictionary, which integrates textbooks, exercises, and classrooms into one, starting from the basics and teaching each problem step by step. It lets people learn math anywhere, anytime, according to personal needs and progress.
- Third, promote an optimized method to learn math, to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Although young in age, Matthew is acknowledged for shaping young minds with his innovative approaches in teaching. He is good at planning goals and fine-tuning them when appropriate. He focuses most of his time and energy on achieving his goals, and is obsessed with getting the details right. “My weakness is that I focus too much on achieving my personal goals, sometimes ignoring minor emergencies, which affect my relatives and friends or the people I work with, which everyone needs to pay attention to and try to avoid.”
As a globally recognised educator, Matthew has been honoured on the international stage many times:
- After coaching multiple students to achieve top-level scores in numerous public math examinations and math Olympiad competitions, he was named ‘Award-winning Educator’; was appointed as a Senior Coach for the China Mathematical Olympiad and the World International Mathematics Olympiad Committee; was invited to teach math courses (Train the Trainers); and was subsequently awarded the ‘Outstanding Leadership Award’, ‘Outstanding Train the Trainers Award’ and ‘Awesome Entrepreneur’.
- Successfully organized multiple National Mathematical Olympiads for University Students and the International Hope Cup Mathematics Invitational.
- Rated Grade A by Education Conference 2.0, an international accreditation body.
- Named by many renowned educational institutions and interviewed by more than 200 media.
He is also a best-selling Author and Columnist with readers from over 35 countries. His books such as ‘CHALLENGING Problems’, ‘Usable College Statistics’, ‘Mathematics Olympiad Masterpiece Series – High School Level’, and ‘Mathewmatician’s Pedagogies Collection’, are available in 80+ libraries, and recommended by newspapers, teachers and users.
Sharing his mantra of success, he sums up: “First, be honest with yourself, free from any interference, and find the purpose of your life. Then, transform it into achievable goals and strive to accomplish them. Second, time is far more important than money. There are far more people who die of old age than hunger. Changing the time originally spent pursuing goals to pursue money and material enjoyment is a reversal of the meaning of life. Third, do not be influenced by other people’s thoughts, and do not let others control you, thereby giving up self-realization. Finally, try to experience and enjoy special moments in your life.” Wise words from a wise man indeed.