Richard Rusczyk (/ˈrʌsɪk/; Polish:[ˈrustʂɨk]; born September 21, 1971) is the founder and chief executive officer of Art of Problem Solving Inc. (as well as the website, which serves as a mathematics forum and place to hold online classes) and a co-author of the Art of Problem Solving textbooks. Rusczyk was a national Mathcounts participant in 1985, and he won the USA Math Olympiad (USAMO) in 1989. He is one of the co-creators of the Mandelbrot Competition, and a former director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). He also founded the San Diego Math Circle.
In 1994, Rusczyk and Sandor Lehoczky wrote the Art of Problem Solving books, designed to prepare students for mathematical competitions by teaching them concepts and problem-solving methods rarely taught in school. These books lent their name to the company he founded in 2003.
After working for four years as a bond trader for D. E. Shaw & Co., Rusczyk created the Art of Problem Solving website, which provides resources for middle and high school students to develop their mathematics and problem-solving abilities. These include real-time competitions to solve math problems and online tools to learn how to solve problems with increasing difficulty as well as math forums. As of November 28, 2023, there have been 1,019,175 students, 1,691,990 topics, and a total of 20,528,472 posts on the site. Rusczyk has also published the Art of Problem Solving series of books aimed at a similar audience. The site also provides fee-based online mathematics classes, which range from Prealgebra to Group Theory and Calculus. Additionally, Art of Problem Solving offers Python programming classes and Olympiad level classes in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science. They are collectively named WOOT.
Rusczyk founded and serves on the board of the nonprofit Art of Problem Solving Initiative, which manages the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS) and finances numerous local math initiatives around the United States. In 2012, Rusczyk won the Mathcounts distinguished alumnus award. In 2014, Rusczyk won the Paul Erdős Award from the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions.[5] Art of Problem Solving also has a vast community of over 500,000 math, computer science, and physics enthusiasts.
The AoPS Wiki is a project using MediaWiki about mathematical topics and problem-solving.
Textbooks
Richard Rusczyk has both authored and co-authored several textbooks for students in grades 5–12, including Pre-algebra, Introduction to Algebra, Introduction to Geometry, and many others. During his studies at Princeton University, he also wrote the Art of Problem Solving Volumes 1 and 2 with Sandor Lehoczky.
Rusczyk studied chemical engineering at Princeton University and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1993. He previously served on the board for ARML and managed the Western ARML site.
